Copper market getting tighter and tighter: Commerzbank

Last Updated : 02 September 2011 at 21:05 IST

NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Copper supplies are getting tighter on higher Chinese imports and copper mine strikes around the world. Decreased availability of high quality ore is also expected to support copper prices.

"Copper is getting tighter and tighter due to supply problems. Not only strikes but also lower ore grades are cutting production, especially in Chile and Peru” said Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann, Reuters reported.

-Data showed that China’s copper imports rose by 8.8% in July. And imports are expected to rise further after the inventories are tapped into and China starts restocking.

-The Copper mine strike at Escondida had caused a 14% in copper production. Possibilities of more strikes around the world especially in Chile (Collahuasi) and Indonesia remain very high.

-Peru’s government is considering increasing mining royalties. This would discourage new investments in this area.

"Recent economic data suggests that global growth could stabilize. Moreover China is starting to import more again. This should Lead to further price gains”, said a Credit Suisse note.

At the London Metal Exchange (LME), copper prices have traded in a range of around $10000 to $8500 for 2011.

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Copper prices set to rise on increased Chinese buying

Last Updated : 17 August 2011 at 10:45 IST

BEIJING/MUMBAI (Commodity Online): Copper prices are expected to go up as the arbitrage window between London Metal Exchange and Shanghai opened earlier in August and spurred increased Chinese buying.

At LME, copper has fallen from levels around $960o to $8900 as of this month primarily due to fears about global slowdown. However, the prices are believed to have found their current support due to increased Chinese buying.

“The reason why copper was able to find support at the current level during the market turmoil in the last two weeks is because of Chinese buying,” said Pang Ying, an analyst at Shenzhen Rongtuo Trading Co, as per a Bloomberg report.

LME copper inventories have fallen for 3 days since August 12 whereas inventories in Asia are the lowest since April.

"If buyers could obtain as many letters of credit as they want, there would have been massive buying orders", said Jing Chuan, chief researcher at Hua Tai Great Wall Futures, Reuters reported. The researches expects Copper imports to rise to 230,000-250,000 tonnes in Q4 compared to an average of 180,000 tonnes in the first half of this year.

At the Multi-Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), copper August contract is down by over 8.5% for the month as of Tuesday close.

The metal, however, is up by 0.50% as of Wednesday morning trade at 401.50.

GEOJIT Comtrade view:
MCX Copper August: Prices to trade in between 397 - 404 now, break of either level could decide the momentum. S1 397 S2 388 R1 404 R2 410.60

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