Copper stockpiles may signal change in price expectations

April 11, 2011
Watching copper pricing and trying to guess its future direction is a favorite sideline among many in the electrical industry, just because so many supply-chain players have significant money tied up in inventories of wire. That makes stories like the ...

Watching copper pricing and trying to guess its future direction is a favorite sideline among many in the electrical industry, just because so many supply-chain players have significant money tied up in inventories of wire. That makes stories like the one datelined for tomorrow morning's Wall Street Journal fascinating.

The WSJ's Carolyn Cui and Tatyana Shumsky report on discoveries of massive stockpiles of refined copper in bonded warehouses around China's ports. Estimates they cite range from 700,000 to a million tons, more than enough to offset the anticipated shortfall that has been driving copper prices higher for much of the past two years. Well worth a read.

Wall Street Journal story, "Warning Signs for Copper" (subscription required)