Copper prices hit historic high as investors push commodity prices up
London, Britain, United Kingdom (AHN) – Copper prices hit a 30-year record high on the London Metal Exchange Friday before falling back slightly.
The price of copper peaked at $9,631.75 per metric ton, driven by demand and tightening world supplies caused by the global economic recovery coupled with low stockpiles of the industrial metal. Copper prices have risen 41 percent this year with 15 percent of that increase coming in December alone.
Precious metals were also up; silver prices were up by 74 percent while gold prices were up by a more modest 28 percent.
However, metals weren’t the only commodities that saw price increases in 2010.
Along with the global economic recovery, the low value of the dollar fueled price hikes in commodities as cash-rich international investors looked for some place to invest their money at a good rate of return.
In 2010, international investors also drove up the prices of food and fuel with coffee up by 72 percent, sugar by 62 percent, corn by 38 percent and wheat by 26 percent. Oil rose 14 percent to more than $90 per barrel.
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