Copper rises on higher China tax

Print this page Posted on : 01-01-2009 by recycleinme.com

London/Shanghai, Dec. 31

Copper rose almost 3 per cent on Wednesday after China raised value-added tax on a range of metal ore imports, but metals across the board still look set for their worst annual falls on record.

Copper for three-month on the London Metal Exchange copper rose 2.6 per cent to a high of $2,986. At 1110 GMT, it was trading at $2,950 a tonne from $2,910 at the close on Tuesday.

GLOOMY OUTLOOK

Copper struck a record high of $8,940 a tonne while aluminium hit $3,380 a tonne in July before a global financial crisis knocked demand.

''Prices are expected to stay weak in the first half next year and are likely to recover a bit in the second half, as copper supply is always relatively tighter than other base metals,'' said analyst Mr Judy Zhu at Standard Chartered Bank.

LME copper stockpiles rose 2,425 tonnes to a nearly five-year high of 339,775 tonnes, while aluminium inventories grew 26,875 tonnes to 2.33 million tonnes, their highest since September 1994. Three-month aluminium traded at $1,504 a tonne from $1,495 on Tuesday.

Lead, the worst performing industrial metal, has dropped 63.4 per cent this year. It traded at $937 a tonne from the last bid of $954 on Tuesday.

Nickel rose to $10,925 from $10,710 a tonne, zinc climbed to $1,165 from $1,150, while tin was at $10,325 from 10,000.

Source : Business Line