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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dwight Taylor who wrote (20945)	10/7/1998 9:24:00 AM
From: Giraffe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116845

BASE METALS: Rebound in equities fails to filter through By Paul Solman The rebound in equity markets failed to filter through to commodities yesterday, with base metals recovering only slightly from the large losses suffered on Monday. Three-month copper, which touched a 12-year low on the London Metal Exchange on Monday, closed at $1,597 a tonne, just $4 higher than Monday's close. Three-month nickel finished $5 higher at $3,980 a tonne, just above the 11-year low it reached on Monday. Analysts said the gloomy outlook for the global economy continued to weigh heavily on base metals. "At present, most forecasts for the future are still looking at zero consumption growth, when what we could realistically be looking at is a sharp fall in consumption," said GNI, the international commodities group. "That leaves us with a very gloomy scenario where production has to be cut in all metals." GNI has predicted that copper could fall as low as $1,300 a tonne by the fourth quarter, while nickel could touch $3,500. Also yesterday, Codelco, the Chilean state copper company and the world's biggest producer, announced it had set a $38-a-tonne premium on the base price of its "A" grade copper for next year. World oil prices remained weak, dropping below $14 a barrel in London at one stage for the second day in a row as supply levels continued to worry traders. In late trading on the International Petroleum Exchange, the benchmark November contract for Brent blend was $14.11 against Monday's close of $14.07. Among precious metals, platinum was fixed at $344 an ounce, the lowest for five and a half years, with traders blaming fears of a slowdown in demand. The gain in equities was gold's loss, with bullion "fixing" in London yesterday afternoon at $294.65 an ounce compared with the morning fix of $296.35 and Monday afternoon's $298.75. Sugar prices moved lower, not helped by a report from F.O. Licht forecasting record production for the 1998-99 season. Sugar output will rise to 129.93m tonnes in 1998-99 from 126.22m in the previous season, the German-based analyst said in a report. The season runs from October to September. Total cane production was expected to grow to 92.45m tonnes in 1998-99 from the previous season's 87.87m, while beet production was put at 37.49m tonnes, slightly lower than 38.34m previously. Among the world's largest producers, F.O. Licht estimated Brazilian output at 18.2m tonnes, the European Union's at 17.8m tonnes, India's at 16.4m tonnes and Australia's at 5.6m tonnes. In late trading on the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, the second-position, December white sugar futures contract was $216.90 a tonne, off 30 cents from Monday's close. The contract has been trading at around its 10-year low of $215 in recent weeks, as oversupply and falling demand for sugar have taken their toll.