While fabricators are still up in arms against a physical copper exchange traded fund, BlackRock’s iShares recently received SEC approval for an ETF backed by metal, rather than copper futures contracts like existing products.
The Securities and Exchange Commission approved a proposed rule change to list and trade iShares Copper Trust, Reuters reports.
JP Morgan has proposed a similar ETF, but it has been delayed by industry objections. A group of fabricators argue that the fund would “obviously drive up the price of copper available for immediate delivery and create shortages of such supply,” and remove as much as 30% of available copper for immediate delivery. [Proposed Physical Copper ETFs Face Resistance from Fabricators]
Physically backed copper ETFs would provide retail and institutional investors easier access to copper.
“Some of the big U.S. institutions looking at inflation hedges may decide to invest … (but) these ETFSswould have to be hugely popular from day one to make a dent in a surplus,” analyst Robin Bhar of Societe Generale, said in the article.