During May, despite the fluctuating trend in prices, there was a new slight general rise in the prices of base metals.
In detail, copper continues its rise above $ 9868 a ton on the London Metal Exchange (LME), an increase of 7.4% compared to April.
The positive trend is mainly due to the strong demand from China, which absorbs about half of world production. It was also caused by the adoption of the economic stimulus packages and recovery plans, accompanied by the recent period of dollar weakness. All of these factors led to a marked increase in the prices of non-ferrous metals and commodities in general.
Also for nickel we are witnessing a recovery in prices: the price in May reached $ 16780, up by 4.6% compared to the previous month. Turning to zinc, however, the values stood at $ 16780 per ton with a 4.3% growth compared to April.
Among non-ferrous metals in slight decline, we unexpectedly find aluminum, which seems to halt its upward run that began at the end of January. After the surge up to the peak of $ 2565 on 10th May, in fact, prices began to fall and closed with a negative monthly variation of 0.1% ($ 2305 / ton).