Base metal prices are in freefall – will growth follow?

The price of copper has fallen to its lowest level since November 2020, with aluminium, nickel and many other base metal prices in freefall, too.

Molten copper
Copper prices have just suffered their worst quarter since 2011
(Image credit: © He Huawen/VCG via Getty Images)

“Copper is flashing a recession warning,” says Myra Saefong in Barron’s. Prices have slumped to their lowest level since November 2020. They slumped by 22% in the second quarter, the metal’s worst quarterly performance since 2011. Considered an “economic bellwether” because of its role in everything from electronics to construction, copper’s tumble suggests a “sour outlook” for the world economy.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.