Lead Rises to Record on Doe Run Explosion; Nickel, Copper Fall
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen
July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Lead rose to a record for a fifth consecutive session on the London Metal Exchange after Doe Run Resources Corp., the world's second-largest refiner of the metal, cut production at its Herculaneum smelter by half following an explosion. Nickel and copper dropped.
Doe Run won't suspend shipments from the smelter in Missouri, spokesman Jim Grubbs said today by phone from St. Louis, where the company is based. Repairs will take between seven and 10 days, he said.
``Any disruption to the supply side clearly will support prices,'' Max Layton, an analyst at Macquarie Bank Ltd. in London, said today by phone. Prices will rise further, he said.
Lead for delivery in three months rose $100, or 3.2 percent, to $3,190 a metric ton as of 3:34 p.m. on the LME. It traded at $3,215 a ton earlier, beating yesterday's record by $90.
Lead, used in car batteries, has soared 93 percent this year after an export halt from Ivernia Inc.'s Magellan mine, which produces about 3 percent of global mined supply, imposed March 12 because of a lead-poisoning investigation. The metal will rise 73 percent this year to an average of $2,233 a ton, the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit said today.
Grubbs wasn't able to give information about Herculaneum's production. The plant produces about 145,000 tons of metal a year, according to metals-consulting company Godalming, England- based CHR Metals Ltd. That accounted for 2 percent of world refined output of 7.94 million tons last year, based on estimates by the Lisbon-based International Lead and Zinc Study Group.
CMR Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Not Held
