Mincor has only started thanks to Mr Moore, as far as a CEO goes, he is one switched on dude!
Nickel Rises to a Record, Bolstering Gains Over Other Metals
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen
Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Nickel, the only gainer this year on the London Metal Exchange, rose to a record for a second consecutive day on speculation that a labor dispute in Canada will cut supply of the metal used in stainless steel.
A union representing more than 1,000 workers at Xstrata Plc's nickel unit in Sudbury voted Jan. 16 for a strike if a new agreement isn't reached before Jan. 31. Stockpiles of nickel tracked by the LME have slumped 85 percent in the past year to the equivalent of less than two days of consumption.
The threatened strike ``added more risk to the already extremely tight market,'' Peter Richardson, chief metals economist at Deutsche Bank AG in Melbourne, said in a report.
Nickel for delivery in three months climbed $325, or 0.9 percent, to $35,825 a ton as of 10:34 a.m. in London. Earlier, it reached $35,975, beating yesterday's high by $275. The contract posted the largest gains among all LME-traded metals last year, and has added another 7.5 percent this year. Copper, nickel, tin, lead, aluminum and zinc have declined.
Nickel prices have risen sixfold since 2002 as global demand for stainless steel expanded. Global stainless-steel production probably rose 14 percent last year, U.K.-based industry consultant MEPS (International) Ltd. estimated last month.
Inco Ltd., now a unit of Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, was hit by a labor protest in Sudbury for three months from June 2003. Prices in December that year rose to the highest since May 1989 partly because of the production shortfall caused by the strike.
``With stocks still critically low, the chance of a strike in two weeks' time was enough to see sellers completely desert the market,'' said David Thurtell, an analyst at London-based BNP Paribas.
Housing Starts
U.S. inflation and housing data due today may hurt metals prices. The Labor Department may report consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in December, the most since July, according to the median forecast of 74 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Housing starts fell to an annual rate of 1.565 million, the Commerce Department may report, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Persistent inflation combined with an economy struggling to weather the housing slump may prompt the U.S. Federal Reserve to hold interest rates steady this quarter. Higher borrowing costs usually slow industry expansion, hurting demand for metals including copper and aluminum. Almost half of U.S. copper usage is in housing, according to Hamburg-based Norddeutsche Affinerie AG, Europe's largest copper refiner.
The consumer-price report and the housing data are due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.
Other LME-traded metals gained today. Copper rose $85, or 1.5 percent, to $5,735 a ton, aluminum added $31.50, or 1.2 percent, to $2,710.50 and lead advanced $10.50 to $1,570. Tin increased $250 to $11,250 and zinc climbed $66 to $3,685 a ton.
To contact the reporters on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in London at [email protected]
Last Updated: January 18, 2007 05:51 EST
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