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copper up Copper Gains in New York as Chilean Workers Vote to Strike

By Millie Munshi

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices rose for a second session in New York as workers voted to strike in Chile, the world's biggest producer of the metal.

Workers at Xstrata Plc, the world's fourth-largest copper producer, voted to strike at a Chilean smelter following a dispute over salaries. Prices have gained 54 percent this year, partly because of supply disruptions from Chile to Indonesia.

``The news from Chile is lending support'' to copper prices, said Mark Lewon, vice president for operations at Utah Metal Works Inc. in Salt Lake City.

Copper futures for March delivery gained 3.3 cents, or 1 percent, to $3.145 at 11:12 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have lost 22 percent since reaching $4.04 in May as higher inventories and slower economic growth reduced demand for the metal used in pipes and wires.

On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months gained $100, or 1.5 percent, to $6,980 a metric ton at 3:44 p.m. Prices are up 57 percent this year.

Light trading may also be giving prices a boost, said Ron Goodis, retail trading director at Equidex Brokerage Group Inc. in Closter, New Jersey. Less than a thousand contracts of the most-active futures were traded in New York as of 10:45 a.m. The 30-day average for the contract is more than 5,600 contracts.

``Prices are pretty sensitive to any trade at these low volumes,'' Goodis said. An increase to $3.60 a pound would signal a rebound in prices, and ``that's when you should buy as much copper as you can,'' he said.

A futures contract is an obligation to buy or sell a commodity at fixed price for delivery by a specific date.

To contact the reporter on this story: Millie Munshi in New York at [email protected]

Last Updated: December 11, 2006 11:15 EST