Commodities » Industrial Metals

Industrial metals (copper, aluminium, nickel, etc.) daily review (March 12, 2010)

Contributed by Nirmal Bang

By Nirmal Bang

MARKET ROUNDUP

Industrial metals prices robounded in late trading session yesterday as declining stockpiles and aftershocks in Chile following last month's earthquake lifted the metal's prices, although fears that China may resort to monetary tightening limited gains.

IN FOCUS

- Australian miner Cape Lambert Resources plans to sell its Lady Annie copper project to China Sci-Tech Holdings Ltd <0985.HK> for about A$130 million ($106.3 million), the Australian Financial Review said on Friday.

- China's output of refined copper and primary aluminium rose 4.1 percent and 3.6 percent respectively in February from a month ago though analysts noted the data showed some weakness compared to December last year.

- Oman's Sohar Aluminium, part-owned by a unit of global miner Rio Tinto, sees gas shortages as the main obstacle to further expansion, a top executive said.

- Sohar Aluminium, a $2.4 billion joint venture located in Oman's Sohar industrial port, completed the first phase of the project in February last year and is operating at full capacity of 360,000 tonnes per year (tpy).

- Canadian mining company Sherritt International's joint nickel venture in Cuba broke production records in February, while a second plant's output was 2 percent above plan, official media reported Wednesday.

- The world's top copper producer Codelco [CODEL.UL] said there was no damage to any of its mines after Chile was rocked by two strong backto- back aftershocks on Thursday, representatives of the company told yesterday.

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK

Industrial metals prices are steady on international bourses. We expect industrial metals prices to show some softness later during the day as expectations of US Retail sales numbers are not iin the favor of industrial metals and Chinese monetary tightening fears will linger on the sentiments of investors.