Copper falls to 2-week low

Print this page Posted on : 01-14-2010 by recycleinme.com

Bloomberg

Jan. 13

Copper fell for a second day in London to a two-week low on concern that raw-materials demand may wane after China, the world's largest metals user, moved to limit its economic growth.

There's concern about the credit situation in China, said Mr Neil Buxton, managing director of London-based GFMS Metals Consulting Ltd. Still, he expects demand for metals in the Asian nation to keep rising, resulting in a 15 per cent increase this year in copper usage after 2009's 18 per cent climb.

Copper for three-month delivery lost as much as $157, or 2.1 per cent, to $7,298 a tonne, the lowest intraday price since Dec. 30, on the London Metal Exchange. The contract was at $7,340 at 10:34 a.m. local time. Copper for March delivery declined 0.4 per cent to $3.337 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchanges COMEX unit.

LME-monitored copper stockpiles gained for a 49th day to 521,775 tonnes, the highest since March 6, 2009. Including those tracked by exchanges in New York and Shanghai, inventories are at 710,799 tonnes, the highest since February 2004.

Among other LME metals for three-month delivery, aluminium fell 1.1 per cent to $2,256.75 a tonne. Stockpiles tracked by the LME declined for an eighth day to 4.598 million tonnes. Metal earmarked for withdrawals from warehouses totalled 241,050 tonnes, or 5.2 per cent of total stockpiles.

Nickel lost 0.4 per cent to $17,625 a tonne and tin dropped 1.7 per cent to $17,600 a tonne. Lead fell 1.3 per cent to $2,400 a tonne and zinc declined 1.5 per cent to $2,437 a tonne.

Source : Business Line