Does anyone know of a website that posts Copper prices?

piecesofme

Something like kitco does with the precious metals that gives an up to the minute rolling value of the metal and is in AV oz's?

Thanks

Mesquite

Here ya' go.

Copper

piecesofme

So Copper is weighed in AV oz's, which means 16 oz's in 1 pound, correct?

And if the current US value of 1 pound of Copper is apx. $3.80/pd give or take because there's a difference for cash price vs. a trading price.

So that would translate to 160 oz, or 10 pounds physical value worth at $38.

Why can't I find it anywhere for less than $6/pd?

Is it like Silver having a Spot value and a Physical value, but the spread is significantly wider?

Baley

I'd imagine Spot for copper (and narrow bid-ask spreads) is for ton quantities.

pounds and tens of pounds of copper probably trade more like 1 and 5 gram ingots of silver... big spread and never close to "spot" for one or two of them.

one ounce copper ingots and even pounds and kilos are largely for the Novelty market

zrlevin

Also: kitcometals.com

OzzyAndy

mineralprices.com is great for all metals, I notice they quote copper from LME in $ per tonne, current price is $8,315/8,320, I'm guessing for a paper market. Buying the physical in tonne quantities would give you better spreads but I can't imagine trying to transport or store it.

streeter

One of the reasons that small quantities of copper are not priced the same as spot is because of processing.

Copper is an indusrial metal......ergo...if you need a small quantity for a small job.....you pay the price marked and spot doesn't matter. In a metal supply store, fabricated copper is usually at least twice spot. All you say to yourself is "WOW, that's expensive", I need XXXX , what's the total?

Spot only matters to a large purchaser who is going to fabricate the metal. ---rolled plate, tubing, powder, buttons. I purchase powder(ground) and buttons for my business.

BTW, with diesel at or near $4.00/gal---it is almost not profitable to open pit mine copper. The huge earth movers in Africa are not moving ore. Most of the worlds supply is through recycling right now. Large users hoard when it's cheap and sell when it's gone up...just like every other storable commodity.

FWIW, nickel is the cheap commodity right now. About 30% of it's highs from a couple of years ago. If you believe the industrial economy is about to rebound, go long on nickel as far out as you can. You WILL make money.

JMHO

piecesofme

Interesting and good info. folks. Thank you.

jmski52

The last time I looked at copper tubing and copper pipe, that was my exact thought - "wow, that's expensive"!

Baley

that's because copper tubing and copper wire are very useful; copper bars and copper in penny coin form, not so much (very much less so.. must be processed to be "useful")

even Engelhard and Handy&Harmon give two prices for gold and platinum: Industrial and Fabricated. Fabricated is about a hundred an ounce more, as it's more "useful"

Wingsrule

Same reason a side of beef is cheaper on a per-pound basis than a pre-cut steak.