The Case of China’s Disappearing Copper

July 31, 2014

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1 min read

Benjamin begins by speaking to the recent news that copper has been disappearing in China. He notes that people have been talking about copper stockpiles in China for years, and how he went to China on a trip to find it. However, when he arrived, the stockpiles always had a smaller amount of tonnage than they actually claimed they did. He then explains how the use of copper to secure loans created over-reporting of the amount of copper being stored, which accounts for this discrepancy. Benjamin notes that when this copper disappeared, the price of copper didn’t go up, which was due to copper no longer being good collateral for Chinese loans. However, the evaporation of copper as collateral for loans and the magical “disappearing” of copper are both going to drive up the price of copper. Benjamin concludes by noting how much he loves copper, and that this development only strengthens Oreninc’s bullish case for copper.

Benjamin Cox

Managing Director of Oreninc Prior to founding Oreninc, Mr. Cox served as a senior analyst at the D.E. Shaw Group and as a consultant with the GLG Group, where he worked directly with 15 Wall Street teams in the mining deal space. Currently, he holds the position of Chief Executive Officer of Roche Bay plc, an iron ore mining company with leases in Nunavut, Canada. Mr. Cox is also the Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V:BAY), a copper and zinc company with properties in Nunavut, Canada. Mr. Cox has researched and developed business, financial, and shipping models for every major global iron ore project. He is also an expert on mining industry market dynamics and metals, with a focus on raw materials including base metals, iron ore, platinum group metals, and industrial materials such as potash and lithium. Mr. Cox holds a B.S. from Brandeis University and an M.B.A. in Finance from Portland State University.

The Case of China’s Disappearing Copper

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