Silver’s outstanding performance in late-August can be attributed to a bear squeeze, with the hedge funds having been net short 6,670 contracts on 15 August.
Supplies of copper scrap increased last week as sellers sold aggressively motivated by higher copper prices. In the meantime, copper rod plants using copper scrap have cut output over the past three weeks against poor end-user demand, leading to lower operating rates. This tightened supply in the market, keeping prices of copper rod produced with copper scrap firm. In this scenario, some copper rod plants, who planned to lift output this week, restocked inventories actively.
Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) +4.3% in Thursday's trading, up 30% from mid-July lows, as copper prices continue their steady advance to hit a six-week high. According to Reuters, benchmark.