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    1. News

    Copper Prices Continue Their Puzzling Journey

    Oct. 10, 2019
    The downward trend in copper prices reflects a major softening in the industrial market.

    What’s Up ‘Doc’? That’s the question people around the world are asking of the Good Doctor Copper.
    Last Friday, the Financial Times published an article entitled “Copper Price Reflects Grim Assessment of Global Economy.” The piece went on to cite a variety of issues weighing on the world that we are already aware of – U.S./China and U.S./EU trade problems; Brexit; slowing global growth; negative interest rates; fears of a recession; a growing political crisis unfolding in Washington, etc.

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    Also last week, Andy Home, wrote an item for Reuters titled “Copper Trapped Between Faltering Supply and Weak Demand.” It’s an excellent read. The difficulty for copper, as well as other industrial materials, can be summed up in a word — uncertainty. When companies don’t know what policies are going to be for trade, the economy, taxes, tariffs, interest rates or politics, they do nothing until clarity returns.

    There are other issues also impacting the markets. Last week we saw LME inventories of copper climb 36,175 metric tonnes in one day. That equates to nearly 80 million pounds, or about 2,000 truckloads of metal. And LME inventories of aluminum rose 51,800 mt, or about 114 million pounds last week— that’s a lot of beer cans.
    Of course, the physical metal didn’t move, it was just a paper transfer. When is the LME going to change this charade of absurdity in inventory reporting? 

    In any event, Dr. Copper is no stranger to strange and inextricable things going on in the markets: The more things change, the more they remain the same. We’ve said it before, and will say it again – the further copper falls, it will be digging a deeper and stronger foundation for the next bull market to begin.

    John Gross, publisher of The Copper Journal,  is one of the metals' industry's best resources on copper pricing trends. If you would like to learn more about how to manage your wire and cable inventory in this volatile market environment, email John at by clicking here or calling him at 631-824-6486.

    About the Author

    John Gross | President

    John Gross is president of J.E. Gross & Co., Inc, the management consulting firm he established in 1987. In addition to his consulting activities, Gross has worked with global leaders in the metals industry over the past thirty-five years. He began his career in metals in 1973 when he joined U.S. Metals Refining Company, a division of Amax Inc., where he rose to become manager of administration. In 1981 he joined Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting as manager of trading and in 1983 became a futures broker with Johnson Matthey, specializing in metals on Comex and the London Metal Exchange.

    He joined BICC Cables Corp. in 1985, now owned by General Cable, where he became V.P. of strategic metals for their North American operations. He was also director of metals management with Scott Brass, a producer and manufacturer of copper and brass strip products.

    Gross is a graduate of Hofstra University, and is a highly decorated Vietnam Veteran. He has held memberships in several trade organizations; was a director of the American Copper Council, and served as a member of the Comex Advisory Committee. He is very active in industry affairs, and has written extensively on the metal markets, industry issues.

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