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

To: Pete Mimmack who wrote (15)	2/26/1998 2:00:00 AM
From: Angelo Ferraro	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2131

MINE CLOSURES "copper futures soared to their highest level in 12 days after Broken Hill Proprietary Copper, a division of Australia's BHP, shut down its Pinto Valley, Ariz., copper sulfide operations. That will slash production at the mine to 15,900 tons of copper a year from 70,244 tons. BHP is the world's second-largest copper producer behind Chile's state-owned Codelco"

To: Pete Mimmack who wrote (15)	3/8/1998 6:11:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 2131

China plans could be saviour of metals industry 08:20 p.m Mar 07, 1998 Eastern By Lynne O'Donnell SHANGHAI, March 8 (Reuters) - China's plans to spend $750 billion on infrastructure could be the saviour of the metals industry but traders and analysts said they wondered where the money would come from and how it could be spent in just three years. ''It is an incredible amount of money and I'm having difficulty thinking that it will actually come about,'' said an analyst with a London Metal Exchange (LME) broking firm. ''If it happens, it would certainly solve all of Asia's problems.'' Vice Premier Li Lanqing announced last month that China would invest $750 billion in infrastructure in the next three years to stimulate economic growth. Premier Li Peng told the current annual session of the National People's Congress, or parliament, China would aim for 1998 economic growth of eight percent, down from 8.8 percent in 1997. Chinese and Western economists said infrastructure was the key to China 's plan to reform struggling state companies by slashing the bloated workforce and creating new jobs to avoid the social unrest that could result from massive unemployment. The infrastructure investment plans were seen helping Beijing spend its way to stronger growth as domestic demand weakens and exports slow. Spending of that magnitude would mean massive consumption of base metals as China strove to build roads, railways, power stations, telecommunications and housing, analysts said. ''It is going to be extremely metals-intensive,'' said William Adams of metals broking firm Rudolf Wolff. ''The worry is that it is just so much, it is such a large amount to grapple with and there would have to be some very interesting consequences for metals,'' he said. The metals industry has been facing the prospect of rising inventories and oversupply as the problems of some Asian economies have led to drastically slowed consumption. China has been isolated from the Asian financial crisis largely because its currency is not fully convertible. But exports have shown signs of slowing as China's markets in the region shrink and competition from countries with vastly depreciated currencies makes Chinese goods look expensive. Rough calculations show that level of investment breaking down to $4.8 billion a week, or $686 million a day, for three years. The World Bank said in 1995 China would need 10 years to spend $750 billion, which represents about seven times current foreign exchange reserves. The possibility that foreign investment in infrastructure projects would be eased was almost a moot point, an Australian economist said, pointing to the more attractive investment environments elsewhere in Asia. ''There will be a dearth of foreign investment inflow over the next 18 months, or at least until people see where the (Chinese) currency is going to settle,'' said the Sydney-based source. Despite repeated assurances from the Chinese leadership that the yuan will not be devalued -- spelled out again by Premier Li in his report to parliament on Thursday -- foreigners would remain nervous about investing in China, he said. An industry executive in Singapore said plans to boost output of mines and smelters pointed to China's long-touted desire for self-sufficiency. ''But it will take a long time to achieve self-sufficiency, despite the great resources the country has, so in the meantime China will need to come to the world market for its needs,'' he said. -- Shanghai newsroom (8621) 6355-2001; fax 6355-5015 ^REUTERS@

To: Pete Mimmack who wrote (15)	3/8/1998 6:17:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 2131

Copper rod premium hike reflects tightness Reuters, Monday, March 02, 1998 at 19:02 By Derek J. Caney PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla, Reuters - Asarco Inc's (NYSE:AR) decision to raise its conversion charge for continuous cast copper rod in March will not be followed by other rod producers, but it does set the stage for an increase in April in an increasingly tight market. Strong demand from wire and cable manufacturers have been driving all rod producers to capacity. And while no producer has put any customers on allocation at this point, no one has any extra metal to sell either. "If we see another six percent increase in rod demand this year," said one rod producer, "we could be looking at a very serious shortage down the road." According to the American Bureau of Metal Statistics, rod shipments grew by approximately six percent in 1997. Asarco raised its rod coversion charge by 0.25 cent to all locations late last week. Producers' combined cathode and rod coversion charges are believed to range between 8.25 and 8.50 cents over COMEX to most Midwest locations. "It's obviously something we're studying very closely," said another rod producer. "It will probably be successful, but the timing of it is a little strange." Producers usually announce any premium changes in the middle of the month. "Making a change late in the month won't make many friends among the consumers," one source said. Grupo Mexico and Encore Wire are individually slated to bring on new rod production in 1997. Grupo Mexico's Caridad plant is expected to be producing rod shortly, while the Encore plant is expected to be producing in the second half of the year. derek.caney@reuters.com))