Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Stephen O who wrote (1286)	8/30/2005 2:08:53 PM
From: Stephen O	Respond to of 2131

Only 1,100 tonnes in New Orleans warehouse. Also this Copper Rallies as Declining Inventories Signal Demand Growth 2005-08-30 13:49 (New York) By Jennifer Itzenson Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices in New York rose as global inventories fell the most in more than a month, suggesting increasing demand for the metal used in wiring, cars and appliances. Stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange fell 675 metric tons, or 1 percent, to 64,250 tons, the biggest one-day decline since July 27. Before today, inventories had more than doubled this month, sending prices down 5.4 percent since reaching a record high two weeks ago. ``There was a draw on the LME, and that's sending it higher,'' said Tom Boustead, an analyst at Refco LLC in New York. ``There haven't been a whole lot of draws'' this month, he said. Copper futures for December delivery rose 2.55 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $1.647 a pound on the Comex. Prices are up 30 percent in the past year and reached a record $1.728 a pound on Aug. 16. A futures contract is an obligation to buy or sell a commodity at a set price by a specific date. Inventories tracked weekly by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 14 percent on Aug. 26, the first decline in a month. Demand in China rose 8.8 percent from January through May this year even as worldwide usage fell 2.9 percent from a year ago, the Lisbon- based International Copper Study Group said on Aug. 19. China is the biggest consumer of copper. Rising prices for crude oil and natural gas also may have helped push copper higher, some traders said. Energy prices climbed after Hurricane Katrina damaged platforms and ports and cut production at refineries as it slammed the U.S. coast in the Gulf of Mexico, the source of almost a third of U.S. oil output. Commodity Rally ``People are taking that as an overall positive thing for commodities,'' said Steve Solomon, president of Solomon Metals Corp., a Lynn, Massachusetts-based supplier of recycled copper. The oil rally is driving commodities higher, he said. ``Nobody wants to get caught short'' when prices are rising, he said. The Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities rose 5.98, or 1.9 percent, to 329.20. The index has risen 20 percent in the past year, led by the energy rally. A strike at U.S. copper producer Asarco LLC's has added to concerns about supplies. Union workers have been striking since July 2 at the copper producer's Mission, Silver Bell and Ray mines and Hayden smelter in Arizona and a refinery in Amarillo, Texas. Union members are considering a company offer, union official Terry Bonds said last week. About 420 salaried employees have helped fill in for the 1,500 strikers, Asarco Chief Executive Daniel Tellechea said Aug. 10. Asarco, a unit of Grupo Mexico SA, accounts for about 1 percent of the world's copper. --Editors: Stroth, Enoch.