Investment bank BMO Capital Markets this week made some changes to its metals and mining outlook for the second half of the year, raising expectations pretty much across the board.
BMO raised its H2-2021 estimates for most base metals with nickel, aluminum, zinc and lead forecasts adjusted upwards by 7– 8%.
Cobalt prices are expected to end the year higher on the back of a strong cyclical and structural demand outlook, and the bank has also become more bullish on nickel, now expecting a deficit in 2021 vs its expectations of a 100kt surplus prior.
Even iron ore prices – which have been defying gravity above $200 a tonne this year – were upgraded. BMO pared back the pace of its forecasted decline for the steelmaking raw material and also gave hard coking coal a big bump, raising its forecast by 14%.
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