industrial metals in stratosphere
RPT-Metals in stratosphere on funds and supply woes By Jae Hur SINGAPORE, April 24 (Reuters) -
Industrial metals raced to near new uncharted territory on Monday, with copper hovering just below the $7,000 a tonne mark on persistent concern about supply disruptions and on relentless fund buying.
By 0334 GMT, London Metal Exchange copper for delivery in three months was up $110 at $6,890/$6,940 a tonne from Friday's London close. Copper earlier jumped to $6,900/$6,950, topping Friday's record high of $6,850.
"The evidence is the underlying trend is very strong," said Peter Richardson, chief metals economist at Deutsche Bank. "All metals are becoming precious."
On Friday, copper, used in construction and electronics, gained $484, or 7.7 percent, to close at $6,780.
Copper prices have risen 57 percent so far this year, and gained about five-fold from below $1,400 in November 2001 on strong demand, especially from China, and tight supply after years of under-investment in new mining projects.
LME copper stocks fell by 425 tonnes to 118,000 on Friday.
LME dealers in Tokyo and Hong Kong said three-month copper fetched as high as $6,910 on Specton, but the wider spread between bids and offers has chilled trade in Asia.
"People are generally staying out of the markets as spreads are too wide," an LME dealer in Hong Kong said.
On the supply side, some 400 more Mexican miners joined a nationwide strike on Sunday in defence of a union boss accused by the government of graft, the national mining and metal workers' union said. [nN23188648]
More than 300 workers at the Lomas Bayas copper mine in northern Chile will vote on Wednesday this week whether to strike or accept a contract offer from Canada's Falconbridge Ltd. . [nN23184162]
Canada's Falconbridge Ltd. and unionised workers at its Brunswick mine and smelter plan to step up contract talks next week and are calling in a conciliator to help, the union said on Friday. [nN21386597]
Shanghai copper futures <0#SCF:> jumped to a record high, hitting their daily upper trading limit, with the front-month May contract hitting 62,470 yuan a tonne.
The most-active Shanghai contract, July, rose 4 percent from the previous settlement to 62,150 yuan ($7,749) a tonne. It was up 2,960 yuan from the previous close.
LME aluminium was unchanged at $2,778/$2,788 a tonne. It earlier rose to $2,780/$2,790, a new 17- year peak.
Shanghai's July aluminium contract closed the morning session up 770 yuan at 21,760 yuan a tonne after rising to $21,900, 10 yuan below the daily upper trading limit.
In other LME metals, zinc was at $3,300/$3,330 a tonne after gaining $250 or 8.1 percent to end at $3,325 on Friday. Friday, the metal reached a record $3,360.
Zinc, used as an anti-corrosive coating in galvanised steel production, has been a star performer in the base metals complex this year, gaining 76 percent on tight concentrates supply and growing demand from the steel sector.
Nickel touched a new record of $19,500 on Friday, while tin rose to $9,550, within $50 of a contract high.
In the mining sector, the world's top miner, BHP Billiton Ltd./Plc. , added 2.7 percent to A$30.92, while Rio Tinto Ltd./Plc. , the second-biggest, rose 2.5 percent to A$82.83.
Metal Prices by 0334 GMT
LME ($/tonne), SFE (yuan/tonne) and COMEX (US cents/lb)
Metal Last Net Change Pct Move
LME Cu 6890.00 110.00 +1.62
SHFE Cu* 62150.00 2960.00 +5.00
LME Alum 2778.00 0.00 +0.00
SHFE Alu* 21760.00 770.00 +3.67
COMEX Cu** 324.80 0.00 +0.00
LME Zinc 3300.00 -25.00 -0.75
LME Nickel 19400.00 0.00 +0.00
LME Lead 1250.00 0.00 +0.00
LME Tin 9200.00 -350.00 -3.66
Change so far in 2006
Metal Latest bid End prev year Pct Move
LME Cu 6890.00 4395.00 +56.77
SHFE Cu* 62150.00 41720.00 +48.97
LME Alum 2778.00 2276.00 +22.06
SHFE Alu* 21760.00 19360.00 +12.40
COMEX Cu** 324.80 204.20 +59.06
LME Zinc 3300.00 1905.00 +73.23
LME Nickel 19400.00 13500.00 +43.70
LME Lead 1250.00 1051.00 +18.93
LME Tin 9200.00 6475.00 +42.08
* 3rd contract months for SHFE copper and aluminium.
** 1st contract month for COMEX copper.
($1=8.02 yuan)
BHP Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)