Early trading in asia produced this story. Just what we thought.
Copper Advances in Asia After Price Drop Lures Buyers in China
By Glenys Sim
May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Copper traded higher in Asia after a drop in
prices lured some buyers in China, the world's largest consumer of the
metal used in wires and pipes.
Copper gained 27 percent this year, partly driven by supply
disruptions. The metal fell yesterday as investors reduced purchases on
speculation the gains will affect demand in China.
``Investors in China have been very cautious in the past few months,
only buying when the price comes off a little and only buying what they
need,'' said Li Jiandong, an analyst at Jingyi Futures Co. in Beijing.
Copper for delivery in three months was up 0.2 percent at $8,450 a
metric ton on the London Metal Exchange at 10:01 a.m. Singapore time.
July-delivery copper on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange rose 0.3 percent to $3.8450 a pound at the same time.
``Consumption is stable but persistently high international prices are
having an impact on demand,'' said Li. ``Whenever London or New York
copper rallies, Shanghai copper follows reluctantly, so prices are
actually moving higher, albeit very slowly.''
Copper for July delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the
most-active contract, gained as much as 330 yuan, or 0.5 percent, to
64,610 yuan ($9,230) a ton, and traded at 64,510 yuan at 10:03 a.m.
Singapore time.
Chile's state-owned Codelco, the world's biggest copper producer, said
yesterday its El Salvador mine remains shut for an evaluation of damage
to equipment after a 20-day strike.
All mine workers are returning to El Teniente, the company's
second-largest mine, which is producing below its pre-strike level. The
Andina mine also is running below full capacity after resuming
production this weekend for the first time since the strike began on
April 16, company officials said.
Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum rose 0.2 percent to $2,924.50 a
ton and lead climbed 0.4 percent to $2,430 a ton. Zinc, nickel and tin
had not traded as of 10:08 a.m. in Singapore.
To contact the reporters for this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: May 7, 2008 22:18 EDT
check the big copper heads, all up today
CLF, BHP, RTP, RIO