Macquarie raises copper price forecast

MACQUARIE Group sharply upgraded its forecasts for major mined commodities, raising its 2011 forecasts for copper by around a third.

The investment bank also increased its outlook for aluminium and silver by about a third and pushed up its estimates for gold, iron ore and hard coking coal by 10 per cent to 15 per cent.

The bank estimated that copper in 2011 will average $US11,025 a tonne, a 32 per cent increase on its previous estimate, while aluminium was upgraded 30 per cent to $US2,646 a tonne and spot iron ore with a 62 per cent iron content was increased 11.6 per cent to $US164 a tonne at Chinese ports, including transport costs.

Hard coking coal, which has been hit by flooding in Queensland, which some analysts predict will cause prices to spike as high as $US500 a tonne, is expected to average $US251 a tonne over the year, a 9.8 per cent increase.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

.End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

Gold will average $US1,456 an ounce, above the metal’s $US1,431.30 record on December 7 and up 15.1 per cent on Macquarie’s previous estimate, while silver will average at $US26.50 an ounce, up 36.2 per cent on the last forecast.