The Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco) has increased its average copper price forecast for 2021 to $4.30/lb from $3.30/lb previously.
Cochilco indicated in its Copper Market Trends report on Thursday that it expected copper prices to fall to around $3.95/lb in 2022 owing to various geopolitical and economic factors.
Explaining the rationale behind the revised guidance, Marco Riveros, vice president of Cochilco, said that the association expected refined copper supply to remain tight until 2022, which would keep the prices at a higher level.
The report indicates that the global demand for refined copper would increase by 3.4pc to 24.2mn mt from 23.4mn mt in 2020. Another increase is forecast for 2022 with a demand of 25.1mn mt.