May 19 – Bloomberg (Choy Leng Yeong): “Surging copper demand will outpace the growth in production from mines and recycled scrap by 4.8 percent this year, twice the size of the gap expected in November, the Lisbon-based International Copper Study Group said. The deficit will more than double to 750,000 metric tons from 361,000 last year, forcing manufacturers to dig deeper into inventories, the group said after a meeting yesterday with government and industry officials from the world’s major cooper-producing and consuming countries. Seven months ago, the group had forecast the deficit would be about 400,000 tons.”
May 17 – Bloomberg (Matthew Craze): “Tin prices climbed to 15-year highs in London amid diminishing stocks in London Metal Exchange warehouses. Tin, used in solders for electronic equipment and in tin cans for the food and beverage industry, rose $300, or 3.4 percent, to $9,125 at 12:05 p.m. in London. Stockpiles in LME warehouses fell 10 tons to 3,565 tons, while a further 745 tons of canceled warrants mean only 2,820 tons are available.”
The CRB index was about unchanged for the week (up 5.5% y-t-d). The Goldman Sachs Commodities Index declined 1.8%, reducing 2004 gains to 15.2%.
