Copper Will Remain High Even as China Raises Rates, Chile Says

Chile, the world’s biggest copper producer, said prices of the metal probably will remain high even as China lifts interest rates to combat inflation.

“Beyond the immediate ebb and flows we’re seeing, the global economy is growing well fundamentally because of emerging countries,” Chile’s Finance Minister Felipe Larrain said in an interview in Santiago today. “Under that scenario, we’re going to continue to have high raw material prices.”

China, the world’s largest consumer of copper, said today that its economy grew a faster-than-estimated 9.7 percent in the first quarter from last year as consumer prices in March expanded 5.4 percent. Copper has climbed 18 percent in the past year to $4.28 per pound at 1:04 p.m. New York time today.

China probably will continue to raise interest rates, Larrain said.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-15/copper-will-remain-high-even-as-china-raises-rates-chile-says.html)