The new year has been as generous to copper as the old. Prices haven't just raced up. They've done better than that. With no retracement or correction, almost without pause, they have soared to heights not seen in six and a half years. Raving cleared 2,100 dollars/t in November and 2,250 dollars in December, LME cash cathode advanced another 200 dollars in January and was within sight of 2,600 dollars this week. Though the backwardation has looked indecisive, ranging from a couple of dollars to over 20 dollars, three-months has followed pretty much in tandem. Recent gains have, not surprisingly, been in thin markets. True, the Chinese have come back from holiday and resumed two-way trading, and although at current levels (and with their exchange rate tied to a weak dollar) copper is not appetising, concern over supply has kept them active. Claims that consumer restocking has begun in Europe and the US still look a bit premature.
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