copper futures climb

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080108/copper-futures.htm

Copper Futures climbed to their highest levels since mid-November on Tuesday, propelled by a rally in other industrial metals early in 2008

According to some analysts, copper has been moving higher on the general demand for commodities along with crude oil and gold.

Copper futures for March delivery gained 15.8 cents to $3.299 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper gained over 1 percent in Shanghai and London markets.

Copper has been strengthened by the growth of demand from China, the largest copper-consuming nation in the world. China's inventories have fallen for eight consecutive weeks, increasing demand from other world producers of copper.

Traders are considering other factors around the world, such as the current labor tension at Codelco, the largest producer of copper in Chile which is facing a labor dispute with subcontract workers. Workers could start a strike in case their demands are not solved by the end of the month.

Inventories of copper stored in LME warehouses fell 25 metric tons Tuesday, settling them at 200,975 tons. Comex inventory data were down 5 short tons at 14,926 short tons.