https://www.mining.com/web/the-great-copper-squeeze-isnt-over-yet...

https://www.mining.com/web/the-great-copper-squeeze-isnt-over-yet/
The great copper squeeze isn’t over yet


“It is fair to say that there is some sort of storm brewing for the metals,” Malcolm Freeman, a director at brokerage Kingdom Futures, said in an emailed note. “The key question is when will it break?”
The backwardation in the front two monthly contracts surged to a record $1,060 a ton during last month’s unprecedented squeeze, prompting the LME to introduce emergency measures in an attempt to restore order. While those steps may prevent the backwardation from reaching such extreme levels again, buyers could yet come under further pressure ahead of the expiry of the November contract in just under two weeks time.

LME data shows there are still more than 17,300 contracts outstanding that will need to be settled before the November contract expires, meaning sellers will either need to buy the contracts back or find copper to deliver into LME warehouses. The open interest in November contracts is equal to 433,775 tons, nearly 14 times the amount of metal that’s available to buyers in the LME’s warehouse network.