The market where you can buy copper has the following in it on Old Town:

Copper Bar = 71

Twine =14 000 000 000

Thorium Bar = 2 340 000 000

Neodymium Bar = 6 970 000 000

By the time you find that market you dont need copper bars anymore for anything. Copper bar should just be in the first market.

Why does the level algorithm think copper bar is so super special?

EDIT: for those wondering if its cause I'm playing on an old version, I started Geopolitics on an alt today, and the first market has: tin bar, iron bar, zinc bar and copper wire. But still no copper bar....

Edited 1/25/2021 10:33:07

Sometimes there are high level recipes that require Copper Bars, and you are better off just buying bars and Smelting something more cost effective.

yes sure, but there are also high level recipes that require iron, tin or zinc, and those are included in the first market (with either copper wire or nickel bar as the 4th item)

What Z says, there are high level recipes that require A LOT of copper bars, an amount you don't want to smelt yourself and that costs nothing in the market compared to the very high profit you get from the recipe otherwise. Being able to get the copper bar from the market therefore is a near requirement for those recipes.

I figure getting them in a later market makes having the market a prerequisite to high level recipes that make a considerable profit.

I like Copper coming in a later market ... b/c otherwise 1 of Zinc, Iron or Nickel gets bumped to a later market. Early on, Copper is the easiest to product on mass. Buy a few cheap mine upgrades, and you can smelt as much as you need/like, but Zinc/Iron/Nickel get progressively more challenging to smelt sufficient amounts of due to lack of ore, so buying to get the ingredients for item crafting is more useful than having Copper available.

Having Zinc, Iron and Nickel available means Bolts, Nails/Screws, Rivets are more accessible earlier on.

Playing Orbis Veteribus Notus, and copper bars are missing from the first 5 markets, with 2 markets left to conquer. Also missing are nails and metal pipes.
Are these items/alloys consistently missing/delayed in all maps after the last update, or the delayed items vary from map to map?

I have no problem playing maps where markets don't offer a few alloys/items - meaning you have no choice but to manufacture them yourself. However having the same alloys/items missing on every map gets annoying.