London copper was on track for its biggest weekly rally in over 35 years on Friday as hopes of U.S. infrastructure spending on Donald Trump’s election win and firming demand from China drag metals out of a years-long bear market.

Copper was trading up 3 percent in late Asian trade, rising for a seventh straight session and up more than 15 percent for the week, on track for its biggest weekly rise since 1980, according to Reuters data.

Copper has been pushed higher by a surge in China steel and coal prices, as well as a view emerging before Trump’s surprise electoral victory that the metal’s outlook for 2017 will be rosier than thought. Trump’s comments in his acceptance speech on increased infrastructure spending fueled further buying.

After looking set to end the year flat just three weeks ago, London Metal Exchange copper prices have rallied by a quarter to more than $5,800 a ton, the highest since July 2015.

“I think we’re out of a bear market and into a bull market for copper. I turned bullish about a month ago,” said UBS analyst Daniel Morgan in Sydney.

The pace of gains has been amplified by momentum-based fund buying, much of it from China, after prices this week smashed through a key chart resistance that has tracked copper’s downtrend over the past five years, traders said.

“When you break such a downtrend, especially on a weekly chart that has been in place for years, it’s significant,” said a trader in Singapore.

Demand for copper from China, the world’s biggest users, has turned out stronger than expected after a first-quarter credit infusion that stoked its property and construction sectors.

“Views on China improved compared with expectations at the start of the year as demand surprised to the upside,” Citi said this month, putting industry estimates of Chinese demand in 2016 at 5-7 percent, from 0-3 percent at the start of the year.

Copper demand from China’s power grid sector, which accounts for nearly half its consumption, surged 33 percent in the first eight months of the year.

Analysts are also revising down expectations of mine supply for 2017, after January’s price slump to six-year lows forced some high-cost mines to shut, and with new supply from Peru largely complete.

“Consensus estimates suggest little copper oversupply in 2016 to overhang the market next year,” Citi said, supporting the surge in the copper price.

“It represents a shift in expectations around where the market sees demand over the course of 2017,” said strategist Daniel Hynes of ANZ in Sydney. “Fundamentals have not been as bad as the market has priced in.”

Source: Reuters

THE World Bank is expected to roll out a US$65 million mining and environmental remediation improvement project aimed at reducing environmental health risks in four mining towns.

Under the project, the World Bank is targeting Kitwe, Mufulira, Chingola and Kabwe.

Both World Bank country manager Ina Ruthenberg and senior mining specialist Martin Lokanc disclosed yesterday that the project that targets at mitigating mining pollution is next month expected to be presented to the World Bank Group for proposal approval.

“The World Bank through the previous Copperbelt Project supported the clean-up of polluted mining areas and helped strengthen environmental governance. We are taking up this agenda again following a request by the government because we all believe it is a major challenge for Zambia and impacts many livelihoods,” Ms Ruthenberg.
She said once implemented, the project will result in the treatment and nutritional supplements for over 30,000 children in Kabwe who have been impacted by lead pollution.

Lead impacts the cognitive capacity and thus is particularly harmful to children.

The project will also reduce the impact of sulphur dioxide on soil quality and improve agricultural productivity, a move that is expected to benefit about 1,000 farmers in Mufulira.

“Overall this project shall demonstrate how environmental clean-up can be designed and replicated,” she said.
Mr Lokanc also explained that the five-year project will, among other interventions be securing tailing dumps as they pose as a risk to the environment and personal safety.

Meanwhile, the World Bank with the support from German Development Cooperation and other stakeholders has launched a Zambia Mining Investment and Governance Review report aimed at strengthening the mining sector’s governance, investment environment and development impact.

Mr Lokanc also said the mining sector in Zambia is of significant national importance and makes an important contribution to the national economy.

“Given the significant resource potential and long life of mines, the sector is likely to remain important for the significant future. Investment has slowed down, partly due to prices,” he said.

Source: Daily Mail