Chinese copper imports will fall sharply: Goldman Sachs

NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Copper imports by China is set to fall “sharply” over the next quarter due to high levels of restocking done since September 2011, as per a new report by the Goldman Sachs Group.

The report claims that China has stocked up almost 300,000 tonnes of copper since Sept 2011 and that this, in combination with higher prices, could act as a deterrent to Chinese buying.

However, the downside risk for copper prices are limited due to possible monetary easing from China, US and Europe. The report goes on to add that a price pullback should be seen as a buying opportunity on a 6-12 month time horizon.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan is also negative on copper. “The global economy lacks the demand ‘spark’ needed to generate significant upside to industrial metals prices in the near to medium term”, a recent report says while forecasting Copper prices to average $8,594 in 2012