ST; Copper rises before finance ministers meet to craft crisis plan
Copper headed for the biggest gain in almost a week as a meeting of European Union finance ministers boosted speculation that officials will tame the region’s debt crisis, improving prospects for metals demand.
The ministers will discuss new budget rules, a financial firewall to protect indebted states and a Greek debt swap when they gather in Brussels. Copper also advanced as imports into China, the world’s biggest consumer, climbed to a record, and speculators turned bullish for the first time in four months.
“There seems to be more optimism that a Greek deal will happen and that Europe in general is getting a better handle on the issues,” Matthew Zeman, a strategist at Kingsview Financial in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “We’ll have to watch events coming out of Europe, but, right now, investors are comfortable in taking risks.”
Copper futures for March delivery rose 1.7 percent to $3.809 a pound at 8:22 a.m. MST on the Comex in New York, heading for the biggest gain since Jan. 17. The price climbed 9 percent in the past two weeks.
Shipments of refined copper into China jumped 78 percent from a year earlier to 406,937 metric tons in December, rising for a seventh month, customs figures showed. That was the highest on record, according to Wang Zhouyi, an analyst at Shanghai CIFCO Futures Co. Markets in the country are closed this week for the Lunar New Year holidays.
In the week ended Jan. 17, hedge funds and other money managers held a net-long position of 4,775 copper contracts after betting on lower prices for 17 consecutive weeks, the longest bearish stretch since July 2009, according to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months rose 1.9 percent to $8,375.25 a ton, or $3.80 a pound.
Aluminum, nickel, lead, zinc and tin also climbed in London.
