I've been "hoarding" copper for the past year. I think copper will continue to rise, but not as fast as it has the past few months. Copper price at my local yard went from $2.80/lb in July '08 to 0.80 in Jan to Feb '09. Then started rising and hit $2.50 in Jan '10 and $3.00 in Jan '11. I expect Spring to bring some increase which is normal as the yards get geared up. That's when I intend to sell.
Now, looking at world-wide supply, you see a sharp drop for the past year but it has started increasing (supply) for the past couple months. I think I read that they only had a two-week supply of copper at one point. There are several old copper mines being reopened at great expense and some new ones, which will also add to the copper supply. You will see the overall economy (world-wide) improving which will lead to more copper demand for construction.
Overall, my guess is that copper prices will increase with inflation, but not to the extent we've seen. Of course, this is all out the window if the world sees another recession like we just came through. If we do, prices will tank (again) and you'll wish you'd have sold when they were high - as you take your hoard to the yard to sell for 0.25/lb just to try to put some food on the table.
In the spirit of "full disclosure" - I've also been hoarding iron and most other metals since last fall when the yard dropped to "winter prices".
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