Network Metals LLC

Copper was strong last week, as it has been for the last couple of weeks, and the question for us has become this: “Why is copper flying in the face of the world’s general negativity?” We are inclined to believe that the weak fundamentals inherent in all the other metals still apply to copper, and that industrial consumption is not near where it needs to be for a proper recovery. Look at the recent price dips in Asian iron ore and further cutbacks in nickel production for continuing evidence of weak overall fundamentals in metals. This activity in copper may be a result of the tightness of scrap, as we discussed a few weeks ago, or it may simply bear further investigation. But for now, despite neutral LME inventories and rising prices, things do not seem as fundamentally sound for copper as the current buying flurry would make it seem.