Iron ore price surges past $US60 per tonne and copper has rallied strongly

Some of the key commodities in Australia rallies on China economy hopes.

Iron ore:

According to the Australian Financial Review today, iron ore has rebounded above $US60 a tonne for the first time since early March, after logging a nearly 4 per cent gain on Wednesday, 6th May 2015.

Iron ore has now gained more than 29 per cent since early April when it was trading as low as $US47.08.

The dramatic turnaround has been fuelled in recent weeks by BHP Billiton's decision to slow its rate of production growth.

However, UBS has suggested iron ore prices could resume their fall and plumb the depths of $US45 per tonne in the second half of the year.

 

Copper:

According to the Australian Financial Review today, Copper has rallied strongly after a disastrous past few months, driven by supply disruptions, a falling US dollar and a pick-up in the Chinese economy.

The red metal traded above $US6500 a tonne for almost all of 2014 before crashing to five-year lows of $US5395 a tonne in January as fears of a Chinese slowdown spread among traders.

Copper, used extensively in manufacturing and construction, is considered a bellwether  for the global economy. China alone accounts for 46 per cent of global demand.

"There are a few things at play," said UBS commodities analyst Daniel Morgan. "A lot of commodities have had a pretty good April and some of that is US dollar weakness. In the past month it's been declining against everything.

"It's about 2 to 5 per cent weaker over the past month and that's translated into strength in most commodities and copper is part of that."

On the demand side, "we're starting to see a little bit of a lift in the China trade ... China's monetary policy changes are all positive for copper. Copper is a very credit-linked trade."

Ref: http://www.afr.com/business/mining/iron-ore/iron-ore-price-surges-past-us60-per-tonne-20150506-ggvu93

http://www.afr.com/business/copper-rallies-on-chinese-economy-hopes-20150506-ggv5uu