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

To: Stephen O who wrote (1302)	10/10/2005 11:59:21 AM
From: Stephen O	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2131

Copper Climbs to Record for 6th Session Amid Smelter Shutdowns 2005-10-10 10:36 (New York) By Jennifer Itzenson Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices rose to a record for a sixth straight session in New York as smelter shutdowns and a decline in global inventories added to concerns about supplies. A smelter in Zambia owned by Glencore International AG and Quantum Minerals Ltd. is running at partial capacity after closing on Oct. 3 because of a fuel shortage. Asarco LLC, the second- largest U.S. copper, shut its Hayden smelter in Arizona last week for repairs. Stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange dropped for the eighth session in a row, declining 0.4 percent. ``There's falling inventories, and some labor issues that have the potential of limiting supplies,'' said Steve Solomon, president of Solomon Metals Corp., a Lynn, Massachusetts-based supplier of recycled copper to buyers in the U.S. and China. Copper futures for December delivery rose 0.55 cent, or 0.3 percent, to $1.814 a pound at 10:35 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices earlier reached $1.823, the highest ever. The metal gained 4.7 percent last week. A futures contract is an obligation to buy or sell a commodity at set price by a specific date. Global supplies tracked by the LME last week fell 15 percent, the most in almost nine years, to 70,475 metric tons. Supplies more than doubled in the week ended Sept. 23 from late July. ``It appears that the inflow has come to a halt,'' said Michael Guido, director of hedge-fund marketing and commodity strategy in New York for Paris-based Societe Generale SA. Demand may rise further following the end of a week-long holiday in China, Guido said. China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, is the biggest consumer of the metal used in wiring, manufacturing and construction. Chinese markets were closed for the National Day holiday last week. Copper for December delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1,280 yuan, or 3.6 percent, to 36,810 yuan ($4,552) a ton. Prices earlier rose as much as 4 percent, a daily limit, to a record 36,950 yuan. Copper also climbed to a record in London, advancing as much as $38.30, or 1 percent, to $3,953.30 a ton ($1.793 a pound). Signals from historical pricing patterns may push the metal to $4,000, Guido said. --With reporting by Xiao Yu in Beijing. Editor: McKiernan