"...how can copper price and stocks both be at a 5 yr low?"

Hi, there, G4G. Hope you enjoyed a great holiday weekend.

I can't reply with the facts, but can venture an educated guess that what you are witnessing is just a normal part of a long-term cycle. Though I am working off memory, and a faulty one at that, seems to me that supplies were quite high a bit over five years ago, and we have been working off that excess since.

I also don't much trust these normal sources of information on supplies as they are often self-dealing warehouses who are, in fact, not disinterested reporters. They buy, sell, trade, loan and short trade their own products. And, like banks, do not have to have on hand the amount of product they report as being available.

This certainly complicates forward-looking analysis as exemplified by the divergent opinions shown this morning (12/01/2014) at the following Web site

http://minecrafthouses.com/tag/long-term-copper-price-chart.html

Perhaps the more important part of the answer is in what the price of the dollar will be going forward, and how lower energy prices will influence this market, noting that lower fuel costs drive down the cost of production.

...not a simple answer, perhaps because the future is unclear, but I hope this helps a bit.

VP