LME tin at record high on supply worries

Print this page Posted on : 02-26-2008 by recycleinme.com

Copper prices retreated from 21-month high on Monday as inventories rose for the second day running, while tin hit a record high on worries about supplies.

Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange was at $8,315/8,330 a tonne at 1052 GMT from $8,350 on Friday. Earlier on Monday it touched $8,485, the highest since May 2006.

Stocks of copper in LME warehouses rose to 149,225 tonnes, a gain of more than 13,000 tonnes since last Wednesday. ''We've had a second big delivery of stocks into the warehouses, a lot of that metal came into warehouses in South Korea,'' said Mr Michael Widmer, analyst at Lehman Brothers.

''South Korean warehouses are very closely related to China because the LME doesn't have any warehouses in China.'' Tin hit a record high of $17,650 a tonne. It was last at $17,600/17,800 a tonne from $17,570 on Friday.

Aluminium was at $2,907/2,912 a tonne from $2,920 on Friday. Zinc too was supported by concern about supplies from China. Prices were at $2,520/2,540 a tonne from $2,500 on Friday.

The metal used to galvanise steel earlier on Monday touched $2,595, the highest since January 9. Lead was at $3,280/3,300 a tonne from $3,260 and nickel at $28,700/28,900 from $28,400.

Source : Business Line