Copper slips a bit but still looks good By Jon Nones13 Sep 2005...

Copper slips a bit but still looks good
By Jon Nones
13 Sep 2005 at 04:17 PM

The December copper contract fell 1.85 cents, or 1.1%, to finish at $1.6255 a pound, erasing part of its 2.5% increase on Monday.

Although copper fell today, analysts quoted in Financial Times said the metal was supported by strong demand and the rejection by workers at U.S. mining company Asarco of an offer to end a crippling 10-week strike.

"Consumers are under-hedged after a period of heavy de-stocking, and we expect fresh physical buying and renewed inventory drawdowns as seasonal activity picks up in September," said Ingrid Sternby at Barclays Capital.

Sternby also said that slower-than-expected growth in output of the metal would help support prices. This was underpinned on Tuesday after workers at Asarco turned down an offer to end a 73-day strike.

"The market remains vulnerable to any supply disruption," said London-based Chilean miner Antofagasta in a Regulatory News Service statement.

MarketWatch quoted Dale Doelling with the same opinion:

"Copper continues to consolidate and this is very healthy for the market," said Dale Doelling, chief market technician at Trends In Commodities. "As long as the market remains above $1.58, the trend will remain up and copper will continue to make new contract highs over time," he said.