, Columnist
Floating Copper Looks Frothy
Supply setbacks like Escondida aren't really the point: Demand isn't growing enough.
This article is for subscribers only.
The optimism of copper bulls seems undimmable.
The supply shortages that were buoying the market a month or so ago are already heading into the past. At Freeport McMoRan Inc.'s Grasberg, the second-biggest copper pit, a concentrate mill that's been suspended for two months amid a dispute with the Indonesian government restarted Tuesday. Then Thursday night, managers and unions at Escondida, the BHP Billiton Ltd.-controlled mine in Chile that's the biggest producer of copper, announced a restart after a six-week strike failed to produce an agreement.