BLBG: Copper Gains for Third Day as Mine Strike in Chile Continues; Tin Climbs
Copper rose for a third day in London, reducing this week’s drop, as a strike at the world’s fourth-biggest mine seemed set to continue.
The stoppage at Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc’s Collahuasi unit in Chile will likely go on because a higher bonus offer doesn’t meet salary demands, a union leader said. Copper, which fell the most since May in London on Nov. 16, also gained as the dollar weakened, fueling demand for commodities as an alternative investment.
“The Chilean strike also adds to positive sentiment,” said Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “Many market participants considered the latest price slump as exaggerated and used it as an attractive buying opportunity.”
Copper for delivery in three months climbed $65, or 0.8 percent, to $8,490 a metric ton at 10:01 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange, heading for a second weekly slide. Copper for delivery in March added 0.7 percent to $3.866 a pound on the Comex in New York. All of the six main metals traded on the LME gained, led by tin.
The strike at Collahuasi entered its 14th day yesterday. The mine produced 535,000 tons of copper last year, or 3.5 percent of global output, according to Standard Bank Plc. Striking miners are willing to resume collective negotiations, union official Cristian Arancibia said.
Sliding Dollar
The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, fell as much as 0.5 percent. A slumping dollar also makes metals priced in the currency cheaper in terms of other monies.
Comex copper rose the most in two weeks yesterday, helped by U.S. reports on manufacturing and jobless claims that signaled the world’s biggest economy is recovering. Prices slid earlier this week on concern that demand might weaken as China, the largest global consumer of copper, moves to restrain inflation.
“Yesterday’s much stronger-than-expected Phil Fed survey has helped,” said Jesper Dannesboe, a strategist at Societe Generale SA in London, referring to the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank’s manufacturing report. “But the key is really a soft landing in China, no double dip in the U.S. and the European problem not spreading to a big country such as Spain or Italy.”
Irish Bailout
Officials of the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank yesterday started to study Irish banks’ books.
“Final confirmation of the expected deal to bail out Ireland’s bank debt may help calm nervousness and allow markets to close higher into the weekend,” said Chris Weafer, Moscow- based chief strategist at UralSib Financial Corp.
Copper may rise next week on speculation that prices fell too far as shrinking inventories and stronger orders to draw metal from stockpiles signal steady demand, a Bloomberg News survey showed.
Metals markets “most likely have seen the lows of price correction,” Dannesboe said.
Tin for three-month delivery on the LME rose 2.6 percent to $25,750 a ton. Prices reached a record $27,500 on Oct. 14. The metal has jumped 52 percent this year, leading advances on the exchange, after production was disrupted in Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Aluminum rose 0.6 percent to $2,323 a ton and nickel climbed 0.9 percent to $22,044 a ton. Lead gained 0.7 percent to $2,332 a ton and zinc added 1.2 percent to $2,213 a ton.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in Moscow at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter@bloomberg.net.
