While base metal prices remain well off their record highs reached in the last few years, the recent rally over the summer, particularly in copper, has raised some hopes that the market bottomed in 2009 and the recovery is in full swing. There are also worries that prices will spike in the long term because many of the projects that were coming down the pipeline were scrapped at the trough of the market. If the world economy continues to grow, demand for base metals would rise much faster than supply would be able to expand.