BLBG:Copper Pares First Weekly Drop in Four as Metals Climb
Copper rose for a second day in New York after inventories of the metal reached a seven-month low in China, the world’s biggest consumer.
Refined-copper stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell to 190,330 metric tons, the lowest since October, data showed today. Copper for delivery in September on the bourse is at a premium to the November contract of 120 yuan ($19.54) a ton, a so-called backwardation that might indicate concern about supply.
“There is little out there, though SHFE stocks were still down and the market remains backwardated,” Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London, said by e-mail.
Copper for delivery in July climbed 1.2 percent to $3.334 a pound by 7:36 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Prices are down 0.6 percent this week, set for the first decline since the week ended April 19. Copper for delivery in three months rose 1 percent to $7,350 a ton on the London Metal Exchange.
Prices increased even as the dollar headed for a second weekly advance against a six-currency basket and copper stocks tracked by the LME had the biggest weekly expansion in eight. Gains by the greenback tend to erode demand for raw materials as an alternative investment.
“The technical picture points toward further upside momentum, especially if we can breach $7,480,” George Adcock, an analyst at Marex Spectron Group in London, said by e-mail.
LME copper inventories climbed 0.9 percent to 629,950 tons, daily exchange figures showed, capping a 4.3 percent weekly advance. Orders to remove the metal from warehouses climbed 8 percent to a record 222,775 tons on bookings in New Orleans, Busan in South Korea and Malaysia’s Johor.
“We are neutral to prices in the short term, expecting pockets of buying,” James Marks, co-head of global metals at Xconnect Trading Ltd. in London, said of copper.
Aluminum for delivery in three months rose 0.4 percent to $1,860 a ton in London. Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. producer, said it will shut two production lines in Canada and postpone construction of a new line at a plant there until 2019.
Zinc, nickel and lead gained in London. Tin was little changed.
To contact the reporter on this story: Agnieszka Troszkiewicz in London at atroszkiewic@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
