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

To: LoneClone who wrote (1588)	2/13/2007 1:57:12 PM
From: Stephen O	Respond to of 2131

Copper Rises Most in Week as Supply Falls, Chinese Demand Grows 2007-02-13 09:10 (New York) By Halia Pavliva and Millie Munshi Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices in New York rose the most in a week as declining global stockpiles signaled improving demand from China, world's biggest consumer of the metal. Inventories monitored by exchanges in London, New York and Shanghai declined 1 percent, the biggest drop in two weeks. China's copper and copper-product imports jumped 44 in January from a year earlier, signaling demand may pick up for stockpiles that had jumped 62 percent in the past six months. ``Copper is more than making up yesterday's losses, as participants find it hard to ignore the steady news from China of improving cooper demand,'' Edward Meir, a commodities analyst at Man Financial Inc. in Darien, Connecticut, said in a report. ``Although inventories have yet to show it, we are no doubt seeing a marked improvement in overall off take.'' Copper futures for March delivery rose 7.65 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $2.554 a pound at 9:09 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. A close at that price would be the biggest gain since Feb. 6. Rising supplies have sent prices down 13 percent this year and 38 percent since reaching a record $4.04 on May 11. Still, the metal rose 4 percent last week and has gained in two of the past three weeks. Global stockpiles of the metal used in pipes and wires fell 2,800 metric tons today to 272,732 tons, based on data compiled by the exchanges in New York, London and Shanghai. The inventories are down 80 percent from 1.3 million tons in January 2003. Copper has more than tripled in price during the past five years, partly because of increasing demand in China. Chinese Imports China imported 11 percent more of the metal and its products in December, the first year-on-year gain since October 2005, the Beijing-based customs office said on its Web site yesterday. Chinese copper imports had been declining year-on- year because of an increase in domestic production, releases from state stockpiles and more use of copper scrap as an alternative. Chinese imports of refined copper and alloys rose 55 percent to 101,344 tons in December, according to customs figures released near the end of last month. Copper output in Zambia, Africa's biggest producer of the metal, dropped 21 percent in December, the Lusaka-based Bank of Zambia said in statement handed to Bloomberg news today. Production fell to 35,709 metric tons, from 44,957 tons a year earlier, the central bank said. Exports declined 29 percent to 34,383 tons from 48,480, it said. Inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange declined 1.3 percent, to 231,250 metric tons. On the LME, copper for delivery in three months rose $170, or 3.1 percent, to $5,640 a metric ton at 3:04 p.m. local time. Prices have fallen 36 percent from a record $8,800 in May. --With reporting by Xiaowei Li in Shanghai and Geoffrey Kapembwa in Lusaka. Editor: Stroth.