Doesn't really matter as all those companies will meet this (copper) and other trainwrecks abroad. Let's start the countdown to when all the world's copper inventories run out. They are already nearly out of nickel. The draw down of LME stocks has been running 3-4000 a day BEFORE these Chilean strikes. That leaves us with about three months left (at the pre-Billiton strike pace) before it's all gone. Of course we will see massive price rationing before we hit zero. The Asian stock markets seem to be smelling something?
stockcharts.com[l,a]daclniay[pd20,2!b50][vc60][iUb14!Lc20]&pref=G
I think it's an input goods bust, much more than the bird flu situation. There is NO sign it's letting up either.
quote.bloomberg.com
Yesterday's Inventory
LME Inventory
1/29/2004
Metalprices.com MT Change
Aluminum 1,447,275 -2075
Al Alloy 64,340 0
NASAAC 97,780 200
Copper 368,875 -3975
Lead 90,600 -325
Nickel 16,002 -48
Tin 15,885 -90
Zinc 759,875 -1625
BHP Billiton's Copper Miners in Chile Go on Strike
(Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Copper miners at BHP Billiton Ltd.'s Cerro Colorado mine in Chile walked off the job in a dispute over pay and benefits, shutting down the company's second-biggest source of the metal and sending copper prices soaring.
Some 441 union members at BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining company, rejected the company's offer for a wage increase equal to 3.7 percentage points above Chile's annual inflation rate, said Carlos Valenzuela, a director of the miners' union. He said the union wants an increase equal to 5 points above inflation and more health and pension benefits.
The strike shut down the northern Cerro Colorado mine, which produces 130,000 tons of the metal a year. Chile, the world's largest producer of copper, increased output last year to 4.9 million of metric tons from 4.6 million of metric tons in 2002.
``The company refused to improve its offer and sparked the strike,'' said Valenzuela. ``We're going to stay off the job until the company comes back with a better offer.''
Copper prices soared to a six-year high in New York on the strike, threatening to reduce inventories already at a 34-month low. World copper inventories have plunged on strong demand in China, the biggest user, and production cutbacks and stockpiling by mining companies.
Copper for March delivery rose 2.35 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $1.1455 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices during the session touched $1.147, the highest for a most-active contract since July 1997. Copper futures, up 1.9 percent for the week, have jumped 45 percent in the past year.
`Raising Our Voice'
In August, workers at BHP Billiton's Escondida mine, an open- pit mine in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, that last year produced 757,979 metric tons of copper went on strike for one day, crimping production at the world's largest copper mine. Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, had its longest strike in seven years last month before reaching a new salary deal with miners. It was the first strike at the company since 2001.
``We have no plans to meet with the company this weekend,'' said Mario Yanez, a director at the workers' union. He said striking workers have cut access to the road that leads to the mine. ``We're raising our voices and have decided to take action.''
Demand
Francis McAllister, the company's spokesman in Houston said the company has ``sent a clear message that BHP Billiton is perfectly willing to continue negotiations.''
McAllister said the company will operate the mine at a ``reduced capacity'' during the strike. He declined to provide further details about estimated production or about the negotiations.
Valenzuela said the strike started at 8 a.m. Santiago time.
Copper demand worldwide exceeded production from refineries and scrap yards by 360,000 metric tons in the first 10 months of 2003, heading for the first deficit in three years, the International Copper Study Group in Lisbon said in a Jan. 13 report.
The deficit may widen to 500,000 tons this year, Arthur Miele, senior vice president for marketing at Phelps Dodge Corp., said on a conference call with analysts yesterday. Phoenix-based Phelps Dodge is the world's second-largest copper producer, after Santiago-based Codelco.
Chile's central bank expects annual inflation rate this year to rise to as high as 3 percent from 1.1 percent last year.
Shares of Melbourne-based BHP closed up 2 Australian cents to A$11.29 ($8.62) in Sydney trading on Friday.
Last Updated: January 30, 2004 15:34 EST |
