* Glencore offers to buy out Australia's no. 2 nickel Minara
Resources
* LME aluminium orders of 20,650 tonnes in Malaysia's Klang
* Chile Escondida 1H output down 14 pct on year
* Coming up: U.S. durable goods for July at 1230 GMT
By Melanie Burton
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Copper was steady on Wednesday
but trading in a tight range due to uncertainty over prospects
for further monetary easing in the United States, while China's
demand prospects and a softer dollar lent support.
Benchmark LME three month copper traded at $8,861.75
a tonne at 0953 GMT, up 0.1 percent from Tuesday when it closed
at $8,850 a tonne. The metal used in power and construction has
dropped by nearly 9 percent since the start of the month, and 13
percent since its February 2011 record of $10,190 a tonne.
"It's still a very uncertain outlook for metals in the short
term," Arne Rasmussen of Danske Bank said.
"People are looking forwards to the Jackson Hole conference
on Friday...There might be more quantitative easing coming up
and that is putting a lot of pressure on the dollar," he said.
A weaker dollar makes commodities more attractive for
holders of other currencies.
Hefty gains in equities had been seen on Tuesday which were
based on hopes that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke would
announce measures to stimulate the struggling U.S. economy at
its meet at Jackson Hole in Wyoming on Friday.
"Some of the strength we are seeing in copper and oil is
from the effect that Asia is doing quite well -- we saw the
Chinese PMIs pick up slightly early in the week," he added.
There are some signals that Chinese appetite for metals such
as copper and aluminium are improving. Nearby copper and
aluminium prices are both trading at a premium against
third-month contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
But consumption remains far from robust and niggling worries
that China won't plug the gap left by struggling Western
economies have cast a shadow over the near term price outlook
for many metals.
Also souring risk appetite in Europe, was a spate of weak
economic data on Wednesday.
Euro zone industrial new orders unexpectedly fell in June
while German business sentiment dropped more than expected in
August.
"With expectations of Jackson Hole receding, the very weak
IFO could make this a strong risk off day," analyst David
Thurtell of Citi said.
At 1230 GMT U.S. durable goods data for July are due.
Economists in a Reuters survey expect a rise of 2.0 percent in
July versus a 1.9 percent fall in June.
ESCONDIDA DROPS
Output from the world's largest mine, Chile's Escondida, fell
14 percent in the first half from a year earlier to 452,408
tonnes, the mine's operator said on Tuesday, as it grapples with
lower ore grades.
Falling supply was largely expected from Escondida, which is
majority owned by global miner BHP Billiton and
extracts 7 percent of the world's copper, but highlighted
ongoing supply side constraints for copper. [ID:nN1E77M21Z ]
In aluminium , cancelled warrants - or new orders for
material -- rose by 20,650 tonnes, in the Malaysian port of
Klang where the lion's share of stocks are now unavailable to
market. Klang has roughly half a percent of total LME stocks
which stand at 4.65 million tonnes. <0#MALSTX-LOC-GRD >
"We expect aluminum prices to find good buying support
around current levels," Credit Suisse Private Banking said in a
note.
"We also think that the downside should be cushioned as our
valuation model suggests that LME prices are trading close to
fair value estimate of about $2,400."
Aluminium changed hands at $2,357 a tonne, down
from $2,371 on Tuesday's close.
Tin was at $23,300 from $23,350 while zinc ,
used in galvanizing was at $2,177.25 from $2,190.
Battery material lead was at $2,335.25
from $2,334 and nickel was at $20,900 from $20,660.
Global commodities trader Glencore International has offered
about A$268 million ($281 million) to acquire the 26.56 percent
it does not already own in Australia's no. 2 nickel Minara
Resources. Minara is targeting production of between 33,000 and
37,000 tonnes of nickel in 2011.
Metal Prices at 0951 GMT
Comex copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices
in yuan/T
Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2009
Ytd Pct
move
COMEX Cu 399.15 -0.45 -0.11 334.65
19.27
LME Alum 2370.00 -1.00 -0.04 2230.00
6.28
LME Cu 8845.00 -5.00 -0.06 7375.00
19.93
LME Lead 2335.00 1.00 +0.04 2432.00
-3.99
LME Nickel 20660.00 0.00 +0.00 18525.00
11.52
LME Tin 23300.00 -50.00 -0.21 16950.00
37.46
LME Zinc 2190.00 0.00 +0.00 2560.00
-14.45
SHFE Alu 17275.00 -15.00 -0.09 17160.00
0.67
SHFE Cu* 66470.00 -180.00 -0.27 59900.00
10.97
SHFE Zin 16910.00 -5.00 -0.03 21195.00
-20.22
** Benchmark month for COMEX copper
* 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN
SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07
