Metals swing to the LME beat
While weak sentiment continued to prevail in copper and lead markets, nickel and tin counters continued to experience bullish sentiment.
By Ratna Ganguli, ET Bureau |
KOLKATA: Base metal markets opened this week on a mixed note. While weak sentiment continued to prevail in copper and lead markets, nickel and tin counters continued to experience bullish sentiment.
Tin is displaying the strongest sentiments in the LME, which led the metal to start the week with a gain of $500 per tonne in LME. Maintaining a swinging mood, nickel prices shot up $55 per tonne to $17,005 per tonne.
The immediate cause for the hike was accumulation in the LME inventory, which swelled by 546 tonne to 53,796 tonne by the end of last week following stagnant demand from the stainless steel sector.
In contrast, copper continues to remain under the bear grip in the wake of slackening demand for the metal from China. With weak sentiment prevailing in the counter, LME copper prices started the week with a loss of $130 per tonne to $6,815 per tonne. Its price has dropped despite a fall in copper inventory at LME, which dwindled by 350 tonne to stay put at 2,00,525 tonne by the end of last week.
Notwithstanding such ups and downs, the overall sentiment in the base metal market continued to be negatively influenced by the current turmoil in the financial markets of the US and Europe. ���Copper prices have been dented by concerns that demand from China is not picking up to full steam after the Beijing Olympics,��� said an analyst of Angel Commodities.
Lead and zinc lost ground as well. Lead started the week with a loss of $50 per tonne to $1,955 per tonne and zinc by $30 to $1,770 per tonne. Buyers in these twin counters have decided to reduce their offtake progressively on the reports about Galmony Mines.
With gradual depletion in its stocks of lead and zinc, the mining company has decided to phase out mining of those two metals by 2011. In 2007, the mining company, based in Ireland and owned by Canadian firm Lundin, produced 45,000 tonne zinc and 11,000 tonne lead.
Market analysts predict that lead prices may remain bound within a range of $1,950-$2,000 per tonne at LME as it is highly unlikely that there will be a sudden spurt of any fresh enquiry about the metal. Zinc���s price at the global level is expected to move between $1,50-$2,050 per tonne in near future.
Tin is displaying the strongest sentiments in the LME, which led the metal to start the week with a gain of $500 per tonne in LME. Maintaining a swinging mood, nickel prices shot up $55 per tonne to $17,005 per tonne.
The immediate cause for the hike was accumulation in the LME inventory, which swelled by 546 tonne to 53,796 tonne by the end of last week following stagnant demand from the stainless steel sector.
In contrast, copper continues to remain under the bear grip in the wake of slackening demand for the metal from China. With weak sentiment prevailing in the counter, LME copper prices started the week with a loss of $130 per tonne to $6,815 per tonne. Its price has dropped despite a fall in copper inventory at LME, which dwindled by 350 tonne to stay put at 2,00,525 tonne by the end of last week.
Notwithstanding such ups and downs, the overall sentiment in the base metal market continued to be negatively influenced by the current turmoil in the financial markets of the US and Europe. ���Copper prices have been dented by concerns that demand from China is not picking up to full steam after the Beijing Olympics,��� said an analyst of Angel Commodities.
Lead and zinc lost ground as well. Lead started the week with a loss of $50 per tonne to $1,955 per tonne and zinc by $30 to $1,770 per tonne. Buyers in these twin counters have decided to reduce their offtake progressively on the reports about Galmony Mines.
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With gradual depletion in its stocks of lead and zinc, the mining company has decided to phase out mining of those two metals by 2011. In 2007, the mining company, based in Ireland and owned by Canadian firm Lundin, produced 45,000 tonne zinc and 11,000 tonne lead.
Market analysts predict that lead prices may remain bound within a range of $1,950-$2,000 per tonne at LME as it is highly unlikely that there will be a sudden spurt of any fresh enquiry about the metal. Zinc���s price at the global level is expected to move between $1,50-$2,050 per tonne in near future.
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