"I note that the Copper Backwardation/Contango chart has gone vertical - what is that telling us?"

David Fuller's view Here are 20-year Backwardation/Contango charts for copper traded on the LME and copper traded on CMX. They show us that there is a clear shortage of copper for immediate delivery from the LME and that nearby supplies have also become tight on CMX. In other words, demand for copper is strong at the moment but supplies of refined metal have been scarcer on a number of occasions in the past.