Copper is again making headlines for the wrong reasons. Last week I said in this early morning post that if Cu held $1.72/lb it would have been good. Just a few hours later I noted the metal at $1.69/lb and said "That's not good people."And so it has proved, with the feted-for-24-hours Chinese stimulus (which contrary to rumour is not some sort of battery operated device you can order online) not convincing Mr. Market about anything. Note that oil is under $60/bbl right now, as well.
Real world impact too, as this morning Frontera Copper (FCC.to) has announced it is suspending mining at its Mexican copper operation "Piedras Verdes" (literally 'green stones', and makes sense if you know what copper minerals look like in the field). Away from Spanish lessons, FCC.to says it is continuing with leaching operations in order to generate cash flow. This will probably go down like a lead balloon with the mining workforce who have likely been pushed hard in the last few weeks to stockpile ore next to the leach pads, but hey...it's kapitalism, baby.
So where does copper go from here? To be honest I don't have a clue, but I'm quite sure pricing until the end of the year will be more as a function of the US dollar's fluctuations and much less aboout real supply and demand issues.