RTRS: Copper falls, market nervous ahead of Jackson Hole
* Tin falls 5 pct as PT Timah restarts spot sales
* Aluminium premiums expected to rise
* U.S. Q2 GDP growth revised to 1.7 pct from 1.5 pct
By Silvia Antonioli
LONDON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Copper fell to its lowest in a week on Wednesday
on lingering worries about weak growth in top metals consumer China, while
investors were nervous ahead of a key meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole
In the United States.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.9 percent by 1347 GMT
to $7,565 a tonne from a last bid of $7,640 on Tuesday. Earlier, the metal used
in power and construction fell to a session low of $7,531, its weakest in more
than a week.
Copper pared some of its losses after data was released showing U.S.
economic growth in the second quarter was 1.7 percent, slightly higher than
initially thought, but not shutting the door on possible easing from the U.S.
Federal Reserve.
Soldering metal tin fell more steeply than other metals, by as much as 5
percent, interrupting a recent rally after Indonesian tin producer PT Timah
announced it had restarted spot sales after a three-week stoppage,
easing shortage worries.
With the exception of tin, trading volumes for metals were thin as investors
were cautious ahead of an upcoming meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole,
Wyoming, which could offer clearer clues as to whether the Fed will launch new
stimulus measure.
New economic stimulus could boost demand for base metals which has been
disappointing so far this year, especially in top buyer China, which consumes
about 40 percent of global production.
"It is still a pretty ugly picture: the Chinese are still struggling with
how their economy is faring given the downturn in Europe and elsewhere," said
Standard Bank analyst Leon Westgate.
"Weaker Asian markets are also weighing on metals and thin trading volumes
ahead of Jackson Hole are a feature of the market this week. As a house, we are
assuming there is going to be some sort of easing but the question is what form
that takes, whether it's quantitative easing or some other mechanism."
TIN PLUNGE
The announcement that PT Timah - the largest tin miner in the world's
biggest refined tin exporting country - had restarted spot sales knocked three
month tin prices, which fell to as low as $19,901 a tonne, before
recovering to trade 3.7 percent down at $20,125.
Prices had shot up 13 percent last week on news that more than 90 percent of
Indonesian tin miners had stopped production.
"Tin went into technical resistance, so it was running out of momentum,
however PT Timah's announcement that it has restarted spot sales certainly
sparked a bit of a sell off and it is effectively capping the price at the
moment," Westgate said.
In other metals, zinc, used to galvanize steel, fell 0.8 percent to
$1,864 a tonne, while battery material lead shed 0.1 percent to
$1,968.75 and nickel gave up 0.6 percent to $16,374.
Aluminium lost 0.7 percent to $1,906.25 a tonne.
Buyers should expect further rises in aluminium premiums, Commerzbank said.
"Premiums on aluminium are set to increase once again in the fourth quarter in
Japan, Asia's largest importer of aluminium," the bank said in a research note.
"The sharp increase is partly blamed on higher premiums in other regions -
especially in Europe and the U.S., and partly on a reduced availability of
aluminium."
Aluminium availability has been falling in the last few months as lower
prices against rising costs forced some major producers to cut their output.
Metal Prices at 1352 GMT
Comex copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices in yuan/T
Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2011 Ytd Pct
move
COMEX Cu 343.90 -2.35 -0.68 344.75 -0.25
LME Alum 1905.00 -11.00 -0.57 2020.00 -5.69
LME Cu 7563.25 -76.75 -1.00 7600.00 -0.48
LME Lead 1967.00 -8.00 -0.41 2034.00 -3.29
LME Nickel 16371.00 121.00 +0.74 18650.00 -12.22
LME Tin 20061.00 -639.00 -3.09 19200.00 4.48
LME Zinc 1863.50 -8.50 -0.45 1845.00 1.00
SHFE Alu 15420.00 20.00 +0.13 15845.00 -2.68
SHFE Cu* 55380.00 -190.00 -0.34 55360.00 0.04
SHFE Zin 14745.00 25.00 +0.17 14795.00 -0.34
** Benchmark month for COMEX copper
* 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN
SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07
