Posted 15 October 2012
Tired of (wrongly!) predicting the fluctuations in copper price, Wired would like to give you some facts in this issue.
The electrical industry is the largest user of copper consuming 42% of the annual production with Asia contributing 43% of the total copper production worldwide.
Copper was first traded on the LME (London Metal Exchange) in 1877. By 2007, world consumption reached just under 18 million tonnes.
In April 2008 LME stocks of copper were 110,000 tonnes. Since then, stocks have increased steadily to approximately 500,000 tonnes.
If you apply the rules of supply and demand, copper prices should fall. There we go again with those risky predictions!