Copper Price to Fall in 2005 as Mine Output Rises, Calyon Says
By Simon Casey
Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices, now at 15-year highs,
will fall next year as BHP Billiton and other mining companies
boost production of the metal used to make electrical cables and
plumbing pipes, Calyon Financial said.
The metal will trade for an average of $2,805 a metric ton
this year, Maqsood Ahmed, an analyst a Calyon Financial in London,
said in an e-mailed report. Calyon forecasts average prices of
$2,200 next year and $1,850 in 2006.
``Mine production could rise by 1.1 million tons in 2005,''
Ahmed said. Demand in the U.S. and other Western countries will
rise 4.3 percent this year to 12.1 million tons, exceeding output
by 100,000 tons, Calyon forecast.
Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal
Exchange traded as high as $3,179.50 a ton today, the most since
March 1989. Phelps Dodge Corp., based in Phoenix, said it will
triple output at the Cerro Verde mine in Peru to 300,000 tons a
year by 2007.
Aluminum, used to make car parts and beverage cans, will
trade for an average $1,700 a ton in the second half before
falling for the next two years, Calyon said. The average will drop
to $1,500 a ton in 2005 and $1,300 the following year, according
to the report.
--Editor: Farr |
