US elections cause only little uncertainty on the metal markets

In the USA a new president was elected yesterday. Since the many postal votes still have to be counted in most cases, the final winner has not yet been determined. The race is much tighter than the polls had indicated in the run-up. However, this does not lead to too much uncertainty on the metal markets this morning. Since the US dollar is sought after and is appreciating as a safe haven, metal prices are under some pressure. Copper loses 2% in early trading and slides below USD 6,700 per tonne. Aluminum gives in somewhat more and falls by 2.5%.

Yesterday, for the first time in well over 1½ years, the price of aluminium rose above the USD 1,900 per tonne mark, which may be attributed to increased financial transactions. Aluminum as well as the other metals were also driven yesterday by the very firm stock markets and a weaker US dollar. In addition, the Chinese government had published a plan to boost sales of cars with new forms of propulsion. According to this plan, around 20% of all new cars sold in 2025 will have no internal combustion engines. Ten years later, pure electric vehicles are expected to dominate sales and public transport will be fully electric. This should be accompanied by higher demand, especially for nickel, but also for copper. China has now assumed a pioneering role in the electrification of the drive fleet. According to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, electric cars are expected to account for over 5% of total car sales this year. This puts China ahead of Europe and South Korea.

Source: Commerzbank Reseach, Photo: Fotolia