The long road to recovery

Measures designed to contain the spread of coronavirus have dealt a heavy blow to metals demand. Assuming that these measures are lifted at a global level in the second half of the year, we expect a small pick-up in industrial metals prices by year-end. But even then, we forecast that prices will finish the year significantly below where they began. And, more importantly, we think it will be a long time before they return to their pre-virus levels, if at all.