铜价升至4年高点

Copper prices continued their march higher on Thursday, rallying to their highest level in almost four years and putting the metal on track for its best year since 2010, in a welcome development for some of the world’s largest mining companies following years of oversupply.

铜价周四继续走高，升至近4年来的最高水平。2017年即将成为2010年以来铜价表现最好的一年，在多年的供过于求之后，这对世界最大的一些矿业公司是可喜的发展。

The red metal is set to end the year up more than 30 per cent, helped by strong global economic growth and robust demand in China, the world’s biggest consumer.

受全球经济强劲增长和世界最大铜消费国中国旺盛需求的推动，这种红色金属截至年底的价格涨幅势必超过30%。

Copper has become a favourite metal for global mining companies such as Glencore and Rio Tinto, which now forecast a lack of supply by the end of the decade as old mines come to the end of their lives and are not replaced.

铜已经成为最受嘉能可(Glencore)和力拓(Rio Tinto)等全球矿业公司欢迎的金属。这些公司预测，随着老矿储量枯竭而未能被新矿取代，本10年末尾将迎来铜供应短缺。

Demand for the metal is also expected to increase from a buildout of charging networks required for electric cars and integration of renewable energy from the wind and sun.

建立电动汽车充电网络和整合风能和太阳能等可再生能源的需要，预计将带动铜需求增加。

Copper staged a spectacular rally to more than $10,000 a tonne in early 2011 after China launched a huge stimulus package following the financial crisis. It then crashed to just over $4,000 a tonne in early 2016, as new copper projects came to fruition and demand weakened, causing analysts to forecast a “wall of supply”.

中国在金融危机后推出了大规模刺激计划，之后铜价在2011年初出现大幅上涨，至每吨逾1万美元。随着新铜矿项目投产，而需求减弱，导致分析师预测“排山倒海般的供应”，铜价在2016年初跌至每吨略高于4000美元。

This year, however, copper prices have clawed their way back up to more than $7,000 a tonne. On Thursday they hit $7,312 a tonne, the highest level since January 2014.

然而，2017年铜价回升至每吨逾7000美元。周四铜价达到每吨7312美元，这是自2014年1月以来的最高水平。

Shares of miners Glencore and Anglo American rose on the news, with shares up more 2 per cent this week.

矿业公司嘉能可和英美资源集团(Anglo American)的股价随之上涨，本周股价上涨逾2%。

The immediate move higher was sparked by the release of China’s import data on Wednesday, which showed that imports of refined copper jumped 19 per cent to 329,168 tonnes in November.

周三公布的中国进口数据引发了最近这波涨势，数据表明中国11月的精炼铜进口量增长19%，至329168吨。

That highlighted strong demand in the country, following a lacklustre October. Analysts said imports of refined copper could continue higher following a crackdown by Chinese authorities on imports of scrap copper over the past few months.

在表现乏力的10月后，这凸显了中国对铜的强劲需求。分析师们表示，在过去几个月中国当局打击进口废铜之后，对精炼铜的进口可能继续上升。

Rumours also circulated that China’s largest producer, Jiangxi Copper, had been forced to cut production as part of the country’s crackdown on pollution. But the company said in a statement that it had received no such order.

有传言称，中国最大的铜生产企业江西铜业(Jiangxi Copper)因为中国打击污染的行动而被迫减产。但该公司在声明中表示，并未接到这样的命令。