Copper rose on Thursday and tin hit a record high on tightening supplies, but copper's gains looked fragile near-term as a holiday approached in top metals consumer China. Tin hit a record high of $29,300 a tonne, propelled by tightening supply in major exporter Indonesia. Heavy rains and floods caused by the La Nina weather anomaly have hit tin miners there in recent months, squeezing supply.
"The supply demand position does look pretty strong we've seen a good bounce back in tin consumption," said Peter Kettle, manager of statistics and market studies, at UK-based consulting firm ITRI. "There's not much supply coming on stream." Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange ended at $9,441 a tonne from Wednesday's last bid of $9,325 a tonne. Tin was untraded but last bid at $29,075 from $28,625.
"I don't buy into the story that further Chinese tightening is going to significantly negatively impact copper demand," David Wilson, an analyst at Societe Generale, said. "...Although the weaker dollar has had a spotty record of boosting metals prices of late, we suspect it should start having more of an impact in the week ahead, particularly as we close in on the $1.40 level against the euro," MF Global analyst Edward Meir said in a note. Stocks of copper in LME warehouses continued a recent climb that has dented investors confidence in the demand outlook, last rising 2,575 tonnes to 397,275 tonnes.
But prices remain underpinned by concerns about tightening copper supply, due to falling ore grades in top producers such as Chile as well as labour issues. World refined copper consumption exceeded production by 404,000 tonnes between January and October 2010 against a surplus of 32,000 tonnes in the same period of 2009, the International Copper Study Group said.
Aluminium ended at $2,427 a tonne from $2,387 and zinc was at $2,260 a tonne from Wednesday's last bid of $2,278. Nickel was at $26,495 a tonne from $26,500. It earlier hit its highest since April at $26,862. Lead ended at $2,420 a tonne from $2,376. It has come under pressure from stocks in LME warehouses, which at 276,925 tonnes are at their highest since April 1995. However, recent LME data showing one company controlling 80-90 percent of lead stock warrants and cash contracts has fuelled nervousness about nearby supplies.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.