I remember back in the early 80s when Alum cans brought 25-30 cents a pound and Copper 80 cents. I wasn't scrapping when Cu crossed the $2 threshold at a yard but as Copper Head alluded to, it probably was when China really ramped up as a global economic player. When Cu "farted" back in late summer-fall of 2013 I checked things out and found out a shadow financing system (as Copper Head has produced here) using copper. One reason is that their banking system is less developed than in the West and operating a business in their semi-state owned economic system makes it tougher to get credit. That, and the fact that China has a very long history of international trading that was run (and most likely still is ) by informal cabals, cliches, and cartels. Copper came to be a commodity of choice in this shadow financing.
So, has the entire time that Cu has been 4x the price of aluminum mostly because of this artificial market influence of shadow financing in China?? Don't know but it looks like a lot of correlation. That's one reason why as a small scrapper I sell when I'm short spending money or I think I have enough to things in some. That way I'm riding the highs and the lows and things maybe even out over time. And I don't worry that I have a bunch of metal that is losing money. Cu may no longer be the "king" of the commons. Long live aluminum truck and car bodies!!!
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