As mentioned earlier, copper is usually purchased in bulk as it moves about the globe. The current price of high grade copper, as of November 28, 2014, is $2.8645 per pound. The profit associated with selling copper is more or less the same as in any other mined metal. Most mining operations are not specific to one metal, and the mines themselves are built to mine several metal commodities at one time, such as tin, silver, and gold. Mine operations are complex, and there are many operating and capital costs associated with a typical mine. In order for a copper mine to be profitable its copper reserves must exceed the cost of mining and refining the copper. Mining and refining costs include supplies, materials, labor, equipment, buildings, electrical systems, and engineering. See the table below for a 5,000 ton ore per day model of an open pit mining operation:
It is difficult to determine how much profit is actually garnered by a mine without significant economic research, but as you can see from the table, mines are costly endeavors. In the case of Codelco, the estimated worth of the company is over $50 billion (Gustavo). It has operations all over Chile and Codelco’s mining profits are divided amongst its shareholders, investors, its employees, and to the country of Chile.
Since copper’s uses are diverse and abundant the commodity chain is vast. Following all of its applications would require significant volumes of texts. Copper is everywhere. For the sake of the length and content of this paper I’d like to focus on cookware made from copper. Copper cookware has been in use for thousands of years. One of the primary benefits from using copper cookware is that they heat up faster than normal pots and pans (Richardson 58). Copper conducts heat very effectively and you can control the temperature of the cookware almost immediately, as soon as you change the temperature on your stove top (Pcarnogoy). Copper cookware is sturdy and heavy enough to sit firmly on your stove top but also light enough that it can be moved around by hand with ease. The beauty of copper cookware cannot be overstated. The cookware is shiny if properly maintained, and their elegance in a modern kitchen adds to the kitchen’s aesthetics. Copper cookware is expensive though and a complete copper cookware set can range from $500 – $3000 leaving only affluent individuals with the ability to afford such a luxury. In class we read an excerpt from Karl Marx’s political economic critique on capitalism, “Capital: Critique of Political Economy”, and in it he mentions the perception of commodity fetishism. When a consumer purchases something of the quality of copper cookware they are not looking at just the practical nature of the pot and pan but they are also purchasing a social product. A product whose labor to produce it “reflects the social characteristics of men’s own labour as objective characteristics of the products of labour themselves, as the socio-natural properties of these things” (Marx 165). Copper cookware, like most commodities, is fetishized in a way that the consumer turns the ordinary pot and pan into a sensuous thing, even transcending sensuousness (Marx 163). Copper cookware adds another layer of intrinsic social value to a contemporary first world kitchen so that it can be shown to family, friends and guests alike. When was the last time you saw copper cookware on display like this in a kitchen?
Not very often I can imagine. And where do you purchase cookware like this? At places like Williams-Sonoma, which is known for its high quality professional kitchenware associated with kitchen luxury. They are based out of San Francisco, California and they operate over 500 retail stores in the United States and Canada. Products purchased from Williams-Sonoma are coveted items, and they are purchased by people all over the United States and Canada who can afford them. Copper cookware’s utility is important, but I believe purchasing such items is also a display of wealth and luxury. They are definitely not necessary for cooking.
Copper cookware is just one of the many products that copper has woven itself into. Not only is copper in a myriad of products but it is also a necessary component to living organisms. Copper is in our blood, in our liver, and in our bones and muscles. Its elemental properties include being highly conductive electrically and thermally, and due to its softness and malleability can be fashioned into almost anything. Copper is an essential building block to our societies. Its usefulness ranges from cars, to electronics, to plumbing, heating and air conditioning, and even to pottery and cooking, its usefulness is almost unequal compared to other elements. Copper is a permanent fixture to our daily lives, invisible, and without it, the website upon which you are reading this commodity chain analysis would probably not exist.
woven into the fabric of society 