Posted on 03/19/2013 10:34:52 AM PDT by blam
There is a big difference between copper producers controlling the market, and De Beers monopolistic control, and the Hunt brothers trying to corner silver.
To start with copper at the production level, even small prices in copper will open or close mines, a very expensive proposition. And the ore is so low grade that when the price of copper drops, at times the gold mined as a by product is actually worth more than the copper.
So the producers very much want price stability. Second, because copper is fairly low value, their biggest concerns are purposes and companies that consume a lot. Another good reason for stability being provision contracts. Large amounts of copper sold at fixed prices.
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