* Escondida strike puts pressure on already tight market * Copper above $10,000 again this year- Credit Suisse * Coming up: U.S. durable goods for June, 1230 GMT By Silvia Antonioli London, July 27 (Reuters) - Copper steadied on Wednesday after an increase of almost 2 percent in the previous session as supply worries due to strikes at the world's largest copper mine provide further upside potential for the red metal. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange edged down 0.2 percent to $9,797 a tonne by 0910 GMT, less than 4 percent off a record high of $10,190 hit in February. It rose 1.7 percent on Tuesday to close at $9,820 a tonne, ending a four-day losing streak, as the strike at Chile's giant Escondida mine extended to a fifth day. No end was in sight to strikes as the mine snubbed government mediation on Tuesday, threatening to spread labor turmoil in the world's top copper producer. "The market focus is still on concerns over supply," said said Barclays Capital analyst Gayle Berry. "It looks like the strike is going to continue dragging on and that has significant implications for a market that is already tight." In a Reuters poll, analysts forecast the copper market will be in a 343,150 tonnes deficit in 2011. "Overall, supply disruptions and losses - not just at major mines - coupled with robust physical demand points to a widening deficit in the refined copper market," Credit Suisse said in a note. "Although it may take a few attempts to break the $10,000 mark, we expect copper prices to move above that level later in the year." A slightly stronger U.S. dollar against a basket of currencies was weighing on metals by making dollar-priced commodities costlier for holder of other currencies. Other metals have also rebounded since a widespread commodity price fall in May. "I am impressed with the strength of other metals, aluminium in particular, which has rebounded in the last few weeks after a period of weakness," Berry said. But I don't see prices moving up significantly, maybe another $50 this quarter." Barclays Capital forecast aluminium prices will average $2,650 per tonne this quarter. END OF DESTOCKING Inventories of copper in LME-registered warehouses rose by 700 tonnes to 469,800 tonnes, over a third higher than in December last year. High stocks of copper in the last few months raised concerns over reduced demand in top consumer China. Chinese metals import slowed down in the first half this year also because consumers were tapping into their stocks rather than importing more material, analysts said. But the destocking phase may be close to an end. "Data for the first half as a whole strongly suggests destocking in a number of the commodities, although the most recent monthly data points suggest this destocking may be coming to an end," Macquarie said in a note. "For both copper and aluminium...destocking was at its strongest over the first four months of the year, with the May and June data implying that the market has been either better balanced (aluminium) or that producers have started tentatively rebuilding inventory (copper)." Aluminium was at $2,660 from $2,652. Tin was at $28,700 from $28,600 while zinc , used to galvanize steel was at $2,518.25 from $2,532 Tuesday close. Battery material lead was at $2,727.25 from $2,720 and nickel was at $24,140 from $24,100. Metal Prices at 0915 GMT Comex copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices in yuan/T Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2010 Ytd Pct move COMEX Cu 445.55 -1.95 -0.44 444.70 0.19 LME Alum 2638.00 -14.00 -0.53 2470.00 6.80 LME Cu 9835.00 15.00 +0.15 9600.00 2.45 LME Lead 2722.00 47.00 +1.76 2550.00 6.75 LME Nickel 24100.00 0.00 +0.00 24750.00 -2.63 LME Tin 28575.00 -25.00 -0.09 26900.00 6.23 LME Zinc 2517.00 -15.00 -0.59 2454.00 2.57 SHFE Alu 18310.00 295.00 +1.64 16840.00 8.73 SHFE Cu* 72810.00 0.00 +0.00 71850.00 1.34 SHFE Zin 19085.00 185.00 +0.98 19475.00 -2.00 ** Benchmark month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07

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