The iPath Bloomberg Copper Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSEArca: JJC) has retreated a bit in recent days, but the copper exchange traded note is still up about 22% year-to-date, making it one of 2017’s best-performing commodities exchange traded products.
Some commodities traders are wagering that copper can regain its recently set highs and then some. Industrial metals like copper, nickel, iron and steel have all rebounded in recent months as traders bet on improving global economic conditions would bolster demand for the base metals after prices hit multi-year lows.
“Call options wagering on copper climbing above $10,000 a metric ton by December 2018 have started trading during the past two weeks, London Metal Exchange data show. In total, traders have spent about $4.5 million on the contracts,” reports Bloomberg.
Other ideas for betting on copper include the Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: COPX). COPX, which tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index, held 27 stocks at the end of the third quarter. Canadian stocks account for 30.6% of the ETF’s weight with Australia chiming in at 12.3%. Chile, the world’s largest copper producer, is the sixth-largest geographic weight in COPX at just over 5%. That ETF is up about 30% year-to-date.
Related: Good News for Copper Mining ETF
The iShares MSCI Chile Capped ETF (NYSEArca:ECH) is up 36% year-to-date. Although Chile is viewed by some market observers as the most advanced and open South American economy and it is undeniably home to Latin America’s highest sovereign credit rating (AA-), there is also no denying the country’s dependence on copper exports as a driver of government revenue.
“Chilean miner Codelco said prices could test record highs above $10,000 a ton as the supply-demand balance shifts to “substantial” deficits from 2018. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also predicts the metal will continue to benefit from synchronized global growth,” according to Bloomberg.
Since the start of the fourth quarter, investors have pulled $7.78 million from JJC. The bellwether copper ETN has seen nearly $9 million in year-to-date outflows.
For more information on Copper ETFs, visit our Copper category.