copper gains on china data

Copper Gains as China Manufacturing Gauge Signals Expansion
By Sungwoo Park - Jun 3, 2013 3:30 PM GMT+1000

Copper advanced amid signs of stabilizing growth in China, the world’s biggest user, while nickel gained to the highest level in three days after a report said that China’s State Reserve Bureau bought the metal.

Copper for delivery in three months rose as much as 1 percent to $7,380 a ton on the London Metal Exchange and was at $7,339.50 at 2:06 p.m. in Seoul. Prices advanced in May for the first month in four, gaining 3.6 percent. Futures for delivery in July climbed 0.9 percent to $3.3225 a pound on the Comex.

An official manufacturing index for China released on June 1 showed a pickup in growth a day after President Xi Jinping said that the expansion is on a more stable footing. China’s State Reserve Bureau bought about 30,000 tons of nickel, equivalent to one sixth of stocks in LME warehouses, the Financial Times said today, citing people familiar with the deal. The purchase happened several months ago, the report said.

“We had a good official manufacturing number and the FT report is also helping,” said Hwang Il Doo, a senior metals trader at Seoul-based Korea Exchange Bank Futures Co., using the paper’s initials “China’s demand for metals will continue.”

Three-month nickel futures gained as much as 0.4 percent to $14,890 a ton, the most expensive since May 29, and traded little changed at $14,838. Prices dropped for a second month in May and have declined 13 percent in 2013.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) couldn’t give a date when it will resume work at its Grasberg operation in Indonesia, the second-largest copper mine, spokeswoman Daisy Primayanti said yesterday. A tunnel collapsed on May 14, killing 28 workers.

Stockpiles of copper monitored by the LME fell to 608,450 tons on May 31, marking the first monthly decline since September. The holdings have still increased 90 percent this year, touching the highest level in a decade.

Copper for September delivery rose 0.4 percent to 52,920 yuan ($8,630) a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. On the LME, aluminum and lead gained, while tin and zinc declined.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sungwoo Park in Seoul at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brett