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Gold/Mining/Energy : Copper - analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen O who wrote (265)	2/8/2001 3:09:21 PM
From: Stephen O	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2131

MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--Australia's BHP Ltd. (BHP) is upbeat on the outlook for coal, iron ore and copper prices this year despite widespread expectations of a slowdown in the U.S. economy, Chief Executive Officer Paul Anderson said Thursday. "The basic dynamics for copper are good," he said, noting that there has been little new copper-making capacity brought on line in the last 12 months and that the concentrate market is tight. While the anticipation of a slowdown is weighing on prices, he said there are no longer excess stocks weighing on the market. "We don't have the overhang of copper stocks that we had two years ago," he said. Anderson said the spot market for coking coal is "strong." He was particularly bullish about the outlook for steaming coal prices. Steaming coal is used mainly to generate electricity. "I'm very bullish on steaming coal because the world is going to need electricity; it's very simple," he said. He noted that some steaming coal suppliers are seeking a 20% price increase from their Japanese customers for the Japanese fiscal year starting April 1. In parts of the U.S., the supply of steaming coal is so tight that "what was previously coking coal was sold as steaming coal," he said. Anderson declined to give forecasts for these prices this year, as BHP is in the process of negotiating annual prices for iron ore and coal with its Japanese customers. He was addressing reporters and analysts after BHP earlier announced its first half earnings. The Melbourne-based company, which has minerals, steel and energy operations around the world, is one of the world's major suppliers of coking coal, copper and iron ore. -By Wong Chia Peck, Dow Jones Newswires;