Copper—Commodity Profile

Cryogenic tempering, which supercools material to -300 degrees F and below, promises to make wear parts stronger and longer-lasting—but does it work? 

Copper is believed to be the first metal used by humanity. In fact, copper artifacts dating back to around 8,000 B.C. have been uncovered and authenticated.

Today, copper remains a vital commodity and is found in such familiar end-use items as building wire, power cables, and plumbing tube.

These items begin life in the form of copper-bearing ores, concentrates, and scrap. Producers mine, smelt, and refine these raw materials into cathodes, wrought copper, and/or copper-based alloys, and these semifinished products, in turn, are shipped to wire mills, brass mills, foundries, and powder plants for fabrication into finished goods. (Other metal and chemical industries also consume a small percentage of the market.)

Scrap Facts. In the United States, industrial and obsolete scrap is purchased and ultimately recovered by domestic copper refineries, smelters, ingot makers, brass and wire rod mills, and foundries. In addition, significant tonnages of U.S. scrap are exported, principally to Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, and Japan.

Pricing Info. Copper prices are freely traded on commodity futures exchanges located in London (the LME) and New York City (Comex), and are therefore subject to periods of price volatility unrelated to supply-and-demand fundamentals. As another mechanism, domestic producers maintain a published list price for cathodes, which changes with market conditions, but domestic scrap prices are usually referenced to Comex prices. As evidence, LME, Comex, and scrap prices have exhibited a high degree of correlation over time.

• a reddish metallic element
• group I of the periodic table
• malleable and ductile
• high electrical and thermal conductivity
• good resistance to corrosion

—Robert J. Garino, ReMA director of commodities