tin up nine days in a row

Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Copper rose to the highest level in almost five months, set for the best week in seven, as a weaker dollar made metals cheaper for buyers holding other currencies. Tin advanced for a ninth day, the best run since February.

The three-month contract on the London Metal Exchange gained as much as 0.8 percent to $7,762 a metric ton, the highest price since April 27, and was at $7,747 at 2:07 p.m. in Singapore. The metal is 3.5 percent higher this week, the most since the week ending July 30. Copper for December in Shanghai rose as much as 1.9 percent to 60,170 yuan ($8,944) a ton.

The dollars weakness is helping to boost commodities prices, Lin Junhua, an analyst at Jinpeng International Futures Co., said from Beijing.

The dollar declined for a second day against a six-currency basket before reports forecast to show German producer prices rose for a sixth month and U.S. consumer confidence improved. The U.S. currency was at $1.3127 per euro from $1.3078 yesterday.

After the Chinese holidays in October, we fully expect demand to pick up and supplies to tighten, said Xu Jun, an analyst at Hongyuan Futures Co. At the moment, consumption hasnt fully picked up from the summer lull and were only getting hand-to-mouth buying.

Financial markets in China, the worlds largest metals user, are closed from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24 for the Mid-Autumn festival holiday, and again from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7 for the National Day holiday. Copper is used to make pipes and wires.

Copper Inventories

Copper stockpiles in Shanghai shrank for a second week, dropping to a seven-month low of 98,025 tons last week, according to the Shanghai Futures Exchange. This weeks data will be released after the market closes today.

In Peru, the second-largest copper producer after Chile, miners may vote this week to start a national strike to press for better pensions and a greater share of profits, a union leader said Sept. 14. Protesters in the country attempted to seize Xstrata Plcs Tintaya copper mine in the southern Andes yesterday after clashes with police left two dead.

Tin climbed as much as 0.5 percent to $23,600 a ton, the highest price since July 23, 2008, taking gains since the close of trade on Sept. 6 to about 13 percent. The nine days of gains is the best winning streak since the 10 sessions to Feb. 22.

The metal, which touched a record $25,500 a ton in May 2008, has been bolstered by disruptions to production in Congo and Indonesia.

Aluminum in London rose 0.4 percent to $2,173 a ton, zinc advanced 1.2 percent to $2,174.25 a ton, lead gained 1.7 percent to $2,240 a ton, and nickel increased 0.5 percent to $23,365 a ton.

--Editors: Jake Lloyd-Smith, Matt Oakley

To contact the reporter on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at [email protected]