IC 8225 - State of Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral ...

Increases in the first half of 1950 raised theBritish rice about 1 cent higher than theUnited 8 tates price. A £16 er ton drop inAugust, however, made the 8nited Kingdomprice temporarily lower than the US. price.On August 22 the price was £202 (25.25 cents).On August 23 the price dropped to £186 (23.25cents) but the £202 quotation was reinstatedeffective September 1. By May 1951 theo5cial maximum price was £234 (29.25 cents) ;a drop of £7 to £227 (28.375 cents) was announcedin September by the British Ministryof Materials, which took over metal- urchasingfunctions from the Ministry of SupJy in July.In May 1952 the British Government beganto base its selling price of metals and otherraw materials on New York market prices plusa differential for freight, and other charges.By June 16 the official maximum price was£281 (35.125 cents), and on June 20 an agreementwith producers was aaunced to purchasecopper at 33 cents a pound. The BritishMinistry of Materials pnce was £285 (35.625cents) on July 31, and British purchases fromroducers were 33.5 cents a pound f.a.s. New!fork, beginning August 1. Selling prices onthe European Continent were reported to beabout this level.Free trading in copper on the London MetalExchange was resumed Anpt 5,1953, after alapse of nearly 14 years. he British Min~stryof Metals continued to handle sales of copperuntil May 31, 1954. World supplies of coppertemporanl failed to cover requirements in thesecond h d of the ear, and this, combin, dwith the removal of tze influence of the (lover$ment broker, caused widely fluctuating priceson the LME. The price rose to a record highin October--£310 per long ton (38.75 cents apound). The BritLsh Ministry of Materialswas dissolved August 16, and its remaininfunctions were transferred to the Bprd o ";Trade.Prices on the LME substantiall exceededthose in the United States throug 1 out 1955.By August the rice had reached £400 (50cents), and in mix~ecember was a record highof £405 (50.625 cents); it dropped to 50 centsat the end of the month. On March 6, 1956,the price rose to a new record of £434 to £437(54.25 to 54.625 cents). The price dropped thee uivalent of 6 cents a pound in the latter part09 March. Following a sli ht advance inAugust, prices dropped gradu & y to a monthlyaverage of £273 (34.125 cents) in December1956. By December 11, 1957, the price haddropped to £175 10s. (21.9 cents)-~he lowestsince June 5, 1950, when the Governmentcontrolledprice was £170 (21.25 cents). OnNovember 6, 1958, following increases fromFebruary on, the LME price was £260 (32.5SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION 249cents). During the s ring and summer of 1960the price was equiv 3 ent to 30 or 31 cents apound. Corresponding to the decrease in theUS. price, the London price fell to the equivalentof 27.89 cents in October.On May 6, 1955, the Roan Antelope CopperMines, Ltd., and the Mufulira Copper Mines,Ltd., large copper producers in Northern Rhodesia,announced that effective May 9 theywould offer copper at a fixed basic price of £280a lon ton (35 cents per pound), c.i.f. UnitedKing f om, to those of their consumers who werewilling and able to instill a degree of stabilityinto resale prices of copper and brass products.Prices were fixed for 30 days, then they wereto be fixed for another definite period, and inJune the Rhodesian Selection Trust Co., (RST)representing the two producers, announced thatthe price of £280 would continue, subject tochan e on 24 hours notice. In early Septemberthe $ST price was raised to £360 (45 cents)and on February 27, 1956, to £385 (48.12;cents). This price held until April 30, when itwas reduced to £350 (43.75 cents); it was furtherlowered to £320 (40 cents) on May 28,again on June 18 to £300 (37.5 cents), and onJuly 2 to £275 (34.375 cents). On August 1,the price was increased to £300 and reducedon October 15 to £280 (35 cents), whichequaled the original price. Effective October24, the price was cut to £265 (33.125 cents);rose to £280 on November 12; and was loweredto £270 (33.75 cents) on December 17. TheRST continued to reduce the price in 1957; onFebruary 1 to £250 (31.25 cents); February 19to £240 (30 cents); June 17, £ 230 (28.75 cents);July 1, £220 (27.5 cents) ; August 12, £210 (26.25cents); September 5, £200 (25 cents); and onSe tember 19 to £190 (23.75 cents). TheR ~ grou T announced that, eilective October7, it wo& price copper on the LME pricebasis; this changeover ended the dualof Rhodesian copper that had been in e fPricing ect formore than two years.STOCKSProducers stocks include refined copper,blister copper, and materials in process of refining(table 62). During the depression yearsof the 1930's when consumption was low, stocksof refined copper rose substantially., In thelatter part of 1939 demand for copper increaseddue to war needs and stocks fell 47 percent,byearend. Requirements continued high d mgborld War 11, and stocks continued to decrease.Inventories rose 60 percent by theend of 1945 following the surrender of Germanyin May and the collapse of Japanese resistancein August. Fears of a flood of war stocks fromwar-stimulated mines throughout the world,