BASE METALS

'Sweet spot' nearing for mining

The successful development of a vaccine for COVID-19 coupled with reduced uncertainty following the US elections could release a wave of pent up macroeconomic demand, with base metals such as copper and nickel set to benefit as a result, analysts from US investment bank Jefferies said on Tuesday.

Staff reporter
 A Joe Biden presidency could be good for metals

A Joe Biden presidency could be good for metals

"All things considered, we believe we are heading into the sweet spot of the mining cycle," said Jefferies.

Jefferies said a Biden presidency would "likely be more of a net positive as a massive new Green Deal is possible under his administration", although the bank conceded the potential for higher taxes under Biden presented a downside risk to US GDP.

"Either way, an end to the uncertainty regarding these elections should be a positive for commodity prices and for mining share prices," said Jefferies.

As it has done frequently over the past year, Jefferies pointed to copper as one of the metals to benefit most from cyclical as well as structural demand growth, the latter coming from renewable energy, electric vehicles and anti-microbial applications.

Nickel, meanwhile, should also benefit from the EV revolution, with the supply constraints of both metals likely to send prices higher in the coming years.

Jefferies said iron ore was the "outlier, as we believe slower Chinese demand will lead to some downside to prices", but said it still expected benchmark prices to average north of US$100/tonne for 2021.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

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