Welcome to Lord Copper

Opinions about lots of things - mostly related to the worlds' metal markets

The Art of the Possible

27 October 2021

“Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable - the art of the next best”, said Otto von Bismarck, the man who achieved the unification of myriad German states, duchies, principalities, electorates and the rest, under the leadership of Prussia. Of course, to do it, he instigated three wars - against Denmark, Austria and France - so we can probably say his methods were not universally popular, and one of the results of the unification was the strengthening of the Hohenzollern dynasty, which reached its peak (nadir?) with Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Great War. So not all good, then.

LME Week 2021 - Back in Town

14 October 2021

After the cancellation last year caused by the global Covid pandemic lockdowns, autumn 2021 has seen the traditional annual LME Dinner Week back in the metals business calendar, as industry bigwigs returned to London to wine, dine, fix long-term deals and generally chew over market prospects.

Tin Master

06 October 2021

A few months ago, when I wrote an article here about the likely closure of the LME Ring (obviously before its Lazarus-like revival….), I received the following email from a very good old friend:

Energy hysteria and metal prices

29 September 2021

When I wrote last week that we needed to see some input from the grown-ups into the question of energy policy and security, I was working on the basis that there were some grown-ups around. Sad to say, I think I may have been over-optimistic; the evidence of the last few days shows what looks like a disturbing mass hysteria amongst a large part of the population of the UK.

Energy security: where are the grown-ups?

22 September 2021

For the last eighteen months or so, we have all been bombarded by politicians, media, Twitter and Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and all with a demand that we should follow the science. Superficially, that seems a reasonable approach; but it’s not.

The Return of the Ring

08 September 2021

So, the theatre is back. After eighteen months of silence and gathering dust, the trading floor in Finsbury Square is again echoing to the voices of dealers sitting on the red leather benches.

Pax Britannica, pax Americana

25 August 2021

This is only tangentially related to metals today - wait to the end for the connection - but the mayhem being reported from Afghanistan started me thinking of the historic issues of that unfortunate war-ravaged land.