Commodities » Industrial Metals

Industrial metals (copper, aluminium, nickel, etc.) daily review (March 16, 2010)

Contributed by Nirmal Bang

By Nirmal Bang

MARKET ROUNDUP

Industrial metals prices slumped to their lowest levels in two weeks on Monday, weighed down by a combination of U.S. dollar strength and growing concerns that China will take further steps to tighten monetary policy.

IN FOCUS

- Chile's power supply will remain unstable this week, President Sebastian Pinera said on Monday, after mines and a refinery resumed operations after an outage left most of the world's top copper producer in the dark.

- Most copper mines in south-central Chile had resumed normal operations on Monday after they were briefly down due to a powerblackout Sunday, although Anglo American could not say whether its mines were hit.

- Chinese second-quarter copper imports are likely to remain strong with high Shanghai prices helping to generate imports, Aurubis, Europe's biggest copper smelter.

- Deliverable copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 5 percent from a week earlier, while deliverable aluminium inventories climbed 3 percent, the exchange said on Friday.

- Shanghai copper lost about half a percent as the market opened on Monday, with investors worried about China's inflationary pressure, but the news of a mine halt at Chile's Codelco may lend some support.

- Vale is going ahead with plans to bring in outside workers to increase production at its strike-bound Sudbury nickel and copper mining operations following last week's rejection of a contract offer, a spokesman said on Sunday.

- Indian-focused mining group Vedanta is planning to spin off its aluminium division with an announcement regarding a demerger due as early as this week, said UK newspaper the Independent on Sunday.

- A number of major Chinese steelmakers have asked Premier Wen Jiabao to direct the government to tackle iron ore price negotiations, the official China Securities Journal said on Saturday.

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK

Industrial metals are trading a tad higher on international bourses after being hammered in last 3-4 trading session. Outlook for industrial metals is sideways to down during the day. Any rise of a percent or two should be looked up as a good selling oppurtunity. Copper in particular looks extremly weak during the day.