| Period |
Major Events |
Copper industry |
Copper Price |
| 1880-1914 |
Second Industrial Revolution,
US economic expansion |
Colonial/imperial
raw materials, networks
Opening up of US copperbelt |
Rising real prices |
| 1920-1945 |
World War I, World War II,
Great Depression |
High military demand, investment dries up
Flotation, open-pit mining |
Prices collapse and stagnate |
| 1950-1973 |
Post-war economic boom,
Japan's economic miracle,
Wall Street Crash |
High consumer demand,
Nationalisation in Chile
Peru, Mexico and Africa
Expansion in Africa Copperbelt
flash smelting
Birth of Sx/Ew
expansion in Chile/Peru |
Real price rising,
era of producer
pricing-LME role small |
| 1970s |
Oil shocks Inflation/recession |
Demand slumps substitution |
End of producer pricing,
real prices decline sharply |
| 1975-2005 |
1975-2005 Emergence of Asian NICs and
China, maturing of Japan's economy
1990:Collapse of USSR, “Re-birth”
of US economy,
IT revolution
privatisation/de-regulation market economies
|
Technology driving down cost |
Declining real prices, commodification |
