Copper and lead inventories hit decade lows, all metals running amok this AM:
Reuters
LME markets rampant, hold highs in AM rings
Tuesday February 17, 7:18 am ET
* Complex holds at fresh multi-year highs, with markets boosted by speculative buying, falling inventories and dollar weakness. * Copper (MCU3) trades at $2,794 a tonne, up $60 from Monday, and an eight-year high. Stocks fall 2,800 tonnes to 316,225 tonnes, or lowest for eight years. * Lead (MPB3) at $885/887, up $23 and the highest since the contract was switched to dollars in the early 1990s. Inventories fall 375 tonnes to 81,425 tonnes, lowest since June 1991. * In other firm metals, tin (MSN3) hits 8-1/2 year high, aluminium (MAL3) a four year peak and zinc touches highest for 3-/12 years.
Copper Rises to Eight-Year High in London on Chinese Demand
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Copper extended an eight-year high on the London Metal Exchange amid expectations that demand in China, the biggest consumer of the metal, will increase as inventories dwindle to a five-year low.
Chile, the world's No. 1 copper producer, said yesterday it exported a record $741.8 million of the metal in January. China bought 72 percent more of the metal from Chile last year than in 2002, a trend that has continued this year, said Rodrigo Toro, vice president of sales at Chile's Collahuasi copper mine.
``China's certainly the main driver,'' said Andrew Richards, a resources analyst with Shaw Stockbroking Ltd. in Sydney, in an interview. ``Stockpiles have reduced, there's a shortage of copper and we believe the market will remain pretty tight.''
Copper for delivery in six months was up $50, or 1.8 percent, to $2,780 a metric ton at 9:44 a.m. London time. Inventories at LME-monitored warehouses fell 0.9 percent to 316,225 tons, the lowest since Sept. 1, 1998.
The price of the metal, used in plumbing and electrical wiring, has increased 21 percent this year, after a 48 percent gain last year.
``Strong demand in China and across the pan-Asian region, coupled with significant supply-side disruptions, are placing strong upward pressure on refined prices,'' said Deutsche Bank analysts John MacKinnon, Tama Willis and Peter Richardson in an e- mailed report.
Other metals traded on the LME also gained. Aluminum was up $6 to a four-year high of $1,731 a ton, nickel added $100 to $15,500 and zinc climbed $6 to $1,116, a three-year high. Tin was up $55 to an eight-year high of $6,725.
Lead rose $11 to a 13-year high of $875. World demand rose 1.1 percent to 6.7 million tons last year as production fell 0.8 percent to 6.6 million tons, according to data from the International Lead & Zinc Study Group. |
