Dr Copper’s grim prognosis for the global economy
The price of copper has slumped by 18% in the past year it – a worrying sign for the global economy.
The price of copper has continued to plummet a worrying sign for the global economy. Over the past year it slumped by 18% from highs of more than $7,300 per tonne to around $6,100.
The red metal is said to have the ability to predict turning points in the global economy, which is why traders refer to it as "Dr Copper" the joke being that it has a PhD in economics. Because of its widespread applications in homes and factories, electronics and power generation, demand for copper is often viewed as a reliable barometer of economic health. When the global economy is growing, it needs copper, and prices are strong. If copper prices are declining, it suggests that a slowdown might be imminent.
Recently, workers at Chile's biggest copper mine voted to go on strike, which makes the current price drop look even more concerning, says John Dizard in the Financial Times. The metal is giving investors "a clear signal" to sell or at least reduce their risk assets. Back in 2008, the copper price peaked in May, and then "fell like a lump of ore down a mine shaft", Dizard notes, just ahead of the financial crisis. Now, copper prices are sliding because of worries about the damage to growth from the US-China trade disputes.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
If the Chinese equity market were not down 20% too, then maybe you could discount the copper price, David Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff told the FT. But "there is not a snowball's chance in hell" that the Chinese weakness "will not flow through to the US stockmarket". China is the world's largest consumer of industrial metals, and Chinese consumption accounts for roughly half of all global copper demand. This has added to the metal's recent volatility, as the country is grappling with how to tackle its debt mountain without crashing its economy.
Marina has a PhD in globalisation and the media from the London School of Economics, where she worked as a teaching assistant on the MSc Global Media. In 2014 she was invited to be a visiting scholar at Columbia University's sociology department in New York.
She has written for the Economists’ Intelligent Life magazine, the Financial Times, the Times Literary Supplement, and Standpoint magazine in the UK; the New York Observer in the US; and die Bild and Frankfurter Rundschau in Germany. She is trilingual and lives in London. She writes features and is the markets editor at MoneyWeek..
-
Should you invest in UK equities?
The FTSE 100 hit a record high this week, but UK equities remain unloved and undervalued compared to their global and US peers. Should you snap them up at a discount?
By Katie Williams Published
-
State pension errors: DWP urged to check for mistakes among divorced people
Former pensions minister Steve Webb says there are a high number of divorced women on low state pensions. Now MPs want the DWP to check if there were any errors in “potentially underpaying men and women who are divorced”.
By Ruth Emery Published