Macquarie Research has cut its price forecast for several commodities, including copper and gold, due to renewed concerns about future commodities demand as optimism about the global economy erodes.
Macquarie Research, a unit of Macquarie Group, said that despite China's economic growth, apparent demand for metals remained weak, particularly in the US, Europe and South Korea.
"Certainly, industrial production is stuttering rather than accelerating and metal consumers are maintaining minimum working capital -- this situation should improve as lead indicators rise. However this process does not seem aggressive enough to drive commodity prices," it said.
The bank cut its 2013 copper price forecast by 5.2 per cent compared with its January forecast, to $US7459 a tonne, and cut its 2014 copper price forecast by 14.7 per cent to $US6550 a tonne.
It noted that the rise in copper stocks was forecast to gather pace in the second half of the year as new supply entered the market.
In the precious metals sector, the bank cut its 2013 gold price forecast by 4.3 per cent to $US1467 a troy ounce and cut its 2014 gold price forecast by 3.1 per cent to $US1385, noting that the changes were moderate because it was already bearish on gold.
It noted that "the short-term outlook for gold is unusually murky -- heavy disinvestment from ETF (exchange-traded funds) investors is being offset by strong physical demand in key markets such as India and China, but neither of these is likely to continue indefinitely, and which runs its course first could determine whether the price moves $US100 an ounce higher or lower." The bank said one of the few areas with potential was the platinum group of metals, even though it cut its price forecast for platinum and palladium in 2013 and 2014.
The company expects the price of platinum to rise 5.6 per cent this year to $US1634 a troy ounce and then 12.5 per cent to $US1838 in 2014 as the cost of producing platinum continues to climb higher.
Gold prices have fallen 15 per cent this year as part of a global sell-off in commodities, with investors shifting towards equities and other assets.
Goldman Sachs and Citi have also downgraded their 2013 outlooks for bullion.