Bad news for copper prices

Copper futures trading on New York's Comex market declined Thursday after signs emerged that the upper consumer market, China, would be fully stocked with concentrate in the fourth quarter.

Copper for December delivery fell 1% to 2.92 pounds ($ 6,437 a tonne) in early afternoon trading. Earlier this month, copper hit a three-year high of $ 3.18 a pound (over $ 7,000 a tonne).
But frustration with China's imports, rising stocks in LME warehouses, and fewer mine failures caused the rally to screech.

More bad news hit the market today. In a sign that the supply of primary copper is far from tight, Chinese smelters have simply increased their processing costs by as much as 10%. Per tonne and raised the refining duty to 9.5 cents per pound.
In general, supply and demand are considered balanced.