By Ese Erheriene
LONDON--Copper futures were higher on the London Metal Exchange
Tuesday, buoyed by optimism over Chinese economic growth.
The LME's three-month copper futures contract was trading at
$7,020 a metric ton in morning European trade, up 0.4%.
"China was a big concern for much of this year; that it was
slowing, that it may go into recession, and of course being a big
consumer of all metals, that was a worry," said Robin Bhar, head of
metals research at Societe Generale. "But those concerns seem to
have eased, if not disappeared."
Data over the weekend showed that inflation in China, which
accounts for 40% of the world's consumption of metals, has recently
been well-contained.
Heftier gains were seen in nickel and zinc Tuesday, amid
concerns over supply. Indonesia's decision earlier in the year to
ban nickel ore exports from the country has sent prices climbing in
recent months, while zinc prices have been lifted by the impending
closure of several major mines.
Last year, Glencore PLC shut down the Brunswick and Perseverance
mines that produced zinc and lead in Canada. By 2015, two more
large zinc mines, in Australia and Ireland, are expected to be shut
down as deposits run out.
"If the export ban in Indonesia should be relaxed after all, we
would expect to see noticeably falling nickel prices," analysts at
Commerzbank said in a note.
Other base metals were also higher Tuesday. Zinc was 1.3% higher
at $2,334 a ton, nickel was up 1.9% at 19,007 a ton, lead was up
0.6% at $2,270 a ton, while tin was up 0.4% at $22,493 a ton and
aluminum up 0.9% at $2,051 a ton.
Write to Ese Erheriene at Ese.Erheriene@dowjones.com
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