Copper prices climb to 2024 high as Citi calls the start of the metal's second bull market this century

Soaring copper prices show no signs of slowing down, analysts say, with the red metal's rally fueled by supply risks and improving demand prospects for energy transition metals.

Copper prices with May delivery traded at $4.323 per pound in New York as of Wednesday morning, extending gains after settling at its highest level since June 2022 in the previous session.

Copper briefly hit a high of $4.334 in intraday trading on Tuesday, reflecting its highest level since the middle of January last year.

Three-month copper prices on the London Metal Exchange traded 0.6% higher at $9,477 per metric ton.

Demand for copper is widely considered a proxy for economic health. The base metal is critically important to the energy transition ecosystem and is integral to manufacturing electric vehicles, power grids and wind turbines.

Wall Street banks are bullish on the outlook for copper prices through to the end of the year.

Earlier this week, analysts at Citi said that they believe the second secular bull market of copper this century is now underway — roughly 20 years after the first such cycle.

Citi said on Monday that it expects copper prices to trend higher over the coming months, averaging $10,000 per metric ton by the end of the year and climbing to $12,000 in 2026, according to the bank's base-case scenario.

"Explosive price upside is possible over the next 2-3 years too, if a strong cyclical recovery occurs at any time, with prices potentially rising more than 2/3rds to $15k/t+ in this, our bull case scenario," analysts at Citi said in a research note.

"Our $12k/t base case assumes only a small uptick in cyclical demand growth over the course of 2025 and 2026," they added.

Separately, analysts at Bank of America have raised their 2024