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

To: schzammm who wrote (1034)	11/29/2004 9:48:26 AM
From: Stephen O	Respond to of 2131

Copper Rises for Fourth Session in Five on Falling Inventories By Matthew Craze Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Copper rose for a fourth session in five in London as global inventories of the metal fell to the lowest in eight years. Combined inventories in London Metal Exchange, Comex and Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses fell to 129,985 tons, the lowest since November 1996. This is less than four days' supply. ``For copper, one could say that stocks are the driver of prices and the extremely low levels of stocks currently is ample justification for the high prices we are seeing,'' said Adam Rowley, analyst at Macquarie Bank in London. Copper, used in electrical wiring and plumbing pipes, rose $43, or 1.4 percent, to $3,124 a ton as of 12:06 p.m. in London. The metal has surged 34 percent in the past 12 months. Copper demand, led by rising Chinese use of power cables and electrical wiring, will exceed supply from mines and scrapyards by 750,000 tons this year, according to Lisbon-based International Copper Study Group. On warrant stocks fell by 5,575 tons on the London Metal Exchange, reducing available metal to a record low 41,975 tons. European warehouses have less than 1,500 tons of copper left. This caused the inverse relationship between copper and the dollar to weaken to 0.89 from 0.92 a week ago, as the dollar strengthened against the euro from a record low and the yen from a five-year low. A reading of 1 means the variables move in lockstep. ``Drawdowns in global copper inventories remain supportive of prices,'' Mark Crawshaw, an analyst at Mitsui Bussan Commodities in London, said in an e-mailed note. Strike End Unions at Phelps Dodge Corp.'s El Abra copper mine in Chile returned to work last night, ending a three-week strike that unions claim affected output. About 495 workers walked off the job on Nov. 5 at El Abra, which accounts for 1.5 percent of output at copper mines worldwide. The two striking unions signed new contracts after Phelps Dodge improved its offer for bonuses, Rodrigo Hernandez, a union spokesman, said in a telephone interview. Phoenix-based Phelps Dodge, the world's second-biggest copper miner, owns 51 percent of El Abra and operates the mine. State-owned Codelco, the world's biggest producer of copper, owns the rest. Copper for delivery in January on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 160 yuan, or 0.5 percent, to 29,800 yuan ($3,491) a ton. In other metals, aluminum rose $2 to $1,855, while nickel rose $25 to $14,130. Lead rose $8 to $961 and zinc rose $9 to $1,153. Tin rose $110 to $8,925. --With additional reporting by Heather Walsh in Santiago and Rodrigo Davies in London. Editor: A. Brown