Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-02-05
WILL MAINTAIN
 HIGH AVERAGE
George Walker Says Copper Metal Will not Fall Under Twenty-Five Gents During the Coming Year-Condition of Metal Market.

Copper continues in strong demand at 25 to 26 cents a pound, says George L.. Walker in his current copper letter. Lake and electrolytic are being sold for delivery as far ahead as May and June at 9 cents. There are inquiries for September copper, but producers are re- fusing to make contracts farther ahead than four to five months. Consumers find it practically impossible to secure lots of copper for immediate delivery, as the cash supplies were long ago ex- hausted This condition of things seems to have created the demand for far ad- vance delivery contracts. Manufaetur- CTS who are requested to give figures on manufactured goods deliverable late in the year are unwilling to take chances on the price of copper, and as they are unable to find producers who will sell for August and September de- livery they are obliged to fight shy of such business.
 The fact should be appreciated more generally that copper is not sold at random in the open market as some oth- CT commodities are. Every producer and selling agent has his particular GUS toners whom he supplies year in and year in and year out with given grade of copper from certain mine or refn- cry, and the little copper that is dealt in in the open market represents the excess of either the supply or demand. The custom of buying copper for two to four months, advance account is the outgrowth of the contract system in manufactured articles. A street railway company, for instance, orders 1000, 900 pounds of copper wire and car builder 2,o00,000 pounds of brass trimmings for delivery four or five months hence. The manufacturer who takes these contracts, if he wishes to eliminate the specula- tive feature, must immediately buy his copper for delivery during the month in whick~he desires to begin using it. He thus protects himself as to the cost of raw material.
 The speculative market in London has been used for two generations as a protection, or hedge, by foreign manu- lecturers of copper wares. When con sumner made a contract to deliver copper goods several months in advance, he would protect himself in the copper market either by buying his refined copper at the current price and selling ."G. B. NJ. s" short; or through the purchase of "G. B. NJ. S." if no re. fined copper were available at satis. factory price, provided he feared an advance. He thus protected himself against financial loss in the event of either an advance or decline in metal values. Of late years there have been such wide variations between the prices of e'G. B. M and refined copper that the greater number of manufacturers have discontinued the practice referred to.
 The leading authorities in the copper trade freely express the belief that the average price of copper this year will be close to 25 cents. The production of the first half of the year is nearly all sold out at about 25 cents, and as the last half of the year will be entered upon without any surplus supplies of metal in existence, it is safe to predict that there will be no weakening in market conditions until very near the end of the year, if then. There never was a previous time in the history of the trade when the outlook for the metal market was as rosy as it is al present.