A single buyer has snapped up more than half the copper held in London Metal Exchange warehouses, giving it control over a crucial source of supply and raising concerns among traders about the potential for higher prices.

On several occasions in the last month, this buyer held as much as 90% of the world’s copper stored in LME-licensed warehouses, equal to about 140,000 tons, or enough to make the copper parts of the Statue of Liberty more than 1,700 times. 

The Wall Street Journal reports that the single buyer is rumored to be Red Kite Group, "a London hedge-fund manager that focuses on metals trading." Whoever it is seems to have held more than 50 percent of LME stocks for most of the last four months. This is unusual, and sort of creepy. When one person owns 50 or 80 or 90 percent of the supply of a commodity, people tend to throw around words like "cornering the market," and worry about higher prices and manipulation.

David Fuller's view

Reports that someone was buying LME copper by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and others have helped to steady the price (weekly & daily) near the 300¢ level, which has been a floor area since 2011.  However, a sustained break in the long progression of lower rally highs, requiring a move above 330¢, will be required to indicate that demand is finally regaining the upper hand.