Copper prices have never been far from testing technical support in the last few weeks, even though most of the other metals have spent much of their time pressing higher. On the LME official three-month copper price chart, 7,200 dollars/tonne had been the key level that had formed a firm base since July.' However, this was finally broken in November. On an intraday price basis, the key line of base support was slightly lower, at 7,000 dollars/tonne, but this too was breached by November's dip as prices descended towards June's lows at 6,600 dollars/tonne. There are clear fundamental reasons that explain why prices have shown a weaker tendency. Taken as a whole, they provide convincing evidence that metal is now much more freely available. The increase in availability has primarily been a function of demand falling, rather than supply rising.
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