Goldman adds fuel to raging bear-bull copper fire

London

GOLDMAN Sachs has inflamed further an already heated argument between analysts over the outlook for the copper market. The Wall Street heavyweight has positioned itself as a super bear, slashing its short, medium and long-term forecasts by as much as 44 per cent in the case of 2018.

Cash copper, currently trading around US$5,200 per tonne, will fall to US$4,500 by the end of next year, according to Goldman. And, critically, it will stay at that historically low level for 2017 and 2018 as "the market adjusts to a seven-year bear cycle" running from 2011 to 2018.

Goldman is Goldman, which means that everyone sits up and pays attention wh…