• by IPS Correspondents (london)
• Friday, December 16, 1994
• Inter Press Service

LONDON, Dic 16 (IPS) - Copper briefly crashed over the 3,000 dollars a tonne mark for three-month metal Friday before edging back but still closed in a buoyant mood. This five-and-a-half year high is highly bullish for the red metal.

Copper has set the pace for the whole of the base metal complex, but once confidence that it could hold its highs evaporated the metal edged back and so did so many of the other bases.

Analysts are now predicting that the red metal can climb to even more spectacular highs in the coming weeks.

Demand is consistently growing along with the world's major economies. Fast disappearing stocks on the London Metal Exchange could mean that all-time highs of near 3,300 dollars a tonne (three months delivery) could be on the cards.

"This metal is likely to push high, but the question is whether the move will come before or after the Christmas break," said London futures brokers, GNI, in its daily commodities report Friday.

"Having reached the 3,000 dollars a tonne level, prices have ome under pressure from end of week profit-taking. With the backwardisation on the spread widening to 80 the market continues to suffer from nearby tightness and this increases the concern of the likelihood of volatile trading," said William Adams, analyst at London's Rudolf Wolff Metals.

Stocks moved down by 3,525 tonnes Friday on the LME to 299,875 tonnes continuing the downward trend, reflecting the surge in demand for the metal.

LME stocks have more than halved this year and now western inventories account for about 5 to 5-1/2 weeks' consumption by the end of 1994 -- an extremely low level, said analysts.

Copper ended last Friday on the London Metal Exchange at 2,997.5 dollars a tonne, 2,937.5 dollars a tonne for three-month. Monday it ended at 2,974.5 dollars a tonne, 2,924 dollars a tonne for three-month metal.

Wednesday's bell saw the commodity at 2,958.5 dollars a tonne, 2,906 dollars a tonne for three-month.

This Friday evening copper ended at 3,055 dollars a tonne for cash, 2,985.5 dollars a tonne for three-month on the London Metal Exchange.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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