Copper Rises Most in a Week on Signs China’s Demand to Climb
By Agnieszka Troszkiewicz and Yi Tian - Nov 22, 2011 10:55 AM PT
Bloomberg
Copper futures rose the most in a week on speculation that demand will climb in China, the world’s largest metal user.
China is heading for a soft landing with economic growth in excess of 8 percent next year, and the country has the fiscal scope to cushion an escalation of Europe’s debt crisis, the World Bank said. Chinese copper imports gained for the fifth straight month in October, and inventories in Asia monitored by the London Metal Exchange have dropped in November.
“We’re seeing imports into China continuing to increase, while Shanghai and LME Asian inventories are falling,” Angus Staines, an analyst at UBS AG in London, said in a telephone interview. “That implies the metal is likely finding its way down the supply chain.”
Copper futures for March delivery advanced 0.9 percent to close at $3.348 a pound at 1:21 p.m. on the Comex in New York, the biggest gain for a most-active contract since Nov. 11. Yesterday, the price touched $3.2885, the lowest since Oct. 24, on concern that debt in Europe and the U.S. will curb growth, eroding metal demand.
Prices below $3.50 “represent good buying opportunities for end-users,” Adam Klopfenstein, a market strategist at Archer Financial Services Inc. in Chicago, said in a telephone interview.
Shipments of refined copper into China gained to 295,341 metric tons last month, customs figures showed yesterday. Demand may increase 8 percent in 2012, according to UBS.
Copper for delivery in three months rose 0.3 percent to $7,330 a ton ($3.32 a pound) on the LME.
