BLBG: Copper Drops to 1-Week Low in New York as Inventories Gain
By Millie Munshi
Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Copper futures fell to a one-week low as stockpiles rose to the highest level in more than four years, increasing concern supplies will outpace demand.
Inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange rose 0.6 percent today to 293,025 metric tons. That’s the highest since Feb. 24, 2004. Supplies on the LME have more than doubled since June 30 as copper prices fell by more than half.
“Rising LME stocks suggest that producers are not completely out of the woods just yet, as they try to position themselves ahead of a rapidly deteriorating demand curve,” Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global Ltd. in Darien, Connecticut, said in a report today.
Copper futures for March delivery lost 3.15 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $1.5995 a pound at 9:11 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the price dipped to $1.575, the lowest since Nov. 24.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months fell $40, or 1.1 percent, to $3,550 a metric ton ($1.61 a pound).
To contact the reporter on this story: Millie Munshi in New York at mmunshi@bloomberg.net.
