On June 23, Britain decided to exit from the European Union (Brexit). Brexit came as a shock and instantly created political, economic and financial turmoil: the prime minister resigned, gold shot higher and the pound fell to its lowest level in decades, while currencies like the US dollar, independent of Brexit, became a haven for global liquidity. British emotions are running high and how the country will navigate uncharted waters over the next few years is unclear. But no doubt Europe’s millions will continue their daily lives and methodically adjust to this new reality. Trading rules and markets within the European block will need to recalibrate. Short-term pain can be expected, especially in financial markets, which hate uncertainties. Fortunately, central banks of countries involved are prepared to deal with market instability. The long-term economic performance of Britain and the now smaller European Union, however, remains a burning question that only time can resolve, for better or worse. The European Union and Britain, the world’s fifth largest economy, will remain important players in the global economy, even as China leads the thrust of a new economic order in emerging markets. China’s leadership will continue to underpin economic growth while reducing poverty and improving living standards worldwide. While the world continues on a slow but steady recovery from the global financial crisis and the more recent commodity downturn, media attention on Brexit will open new windows of opportunity, especially for players in the commodity market. Gold has already risen from a bottom at the beginning of this year and its safe-haven attraction was accentuated by the Brexit shock when it closed on Friday at US$1319/oz. The Toronto Stock Exchange, renowned for its resources stocks, shed 239 points and closed down 1.7% on Friday, with the mining and metals sector shedding 6.7%. Commodities are generally pursuing a slow recovery from the lows of early 2016, while bulk commodities continue to lag, given their severe market oversupply. Copper stands out as the likely winner over the next few years. Gold as a traditional store of wealth and safe harbour, and copper as the engine of growth found in new buildings, vehicles and electronic gadgets – they make strange bedfellows but are excellent bell-weathers of economic performance and the relationship in their prices over the last 15 years provides unique insights. Gold price is driven by sentiment and copper price by supply-demand; the correlation, except for the period immediately before the global financial crisis, is remarkable and unexpected. Due to persistent oversupply, copper is currently lagging, with erosion of oversupply expected to take a few years before the price fully recovers. Continued growth of massive countries like China and India will provide ongoing demand from construction, transportation and consumer products - all the products needed by growing urbanization. We are not alone in a positive copper outlook. Major mining companies like BHP and Rio Tinto have a strategic focus on copper. They expect falling supply, growing demand and price improvement within a few years. Their commitment is a testament to copper’s importance, especially when all major mining companies have taken dramatic action to sell non-core assets, cut costs and reduce debt in the economic realities of the post-commodity super cycle. Copper outlook was further reinforced recently when Rio Tinto approved US$5.3 billion to develop the underground mine at their Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia. (Written by Sandy Chim, President of Century Global Commodities Corporation)