Industrial metals (copper, aluminium, nickel, etc.) daily review (December 24, 2009)

MARKET ROUNDUP Industrial metals futures rose to their highest levels in nearly one week Wednesday morning as investors shrugged off disappointing new home sales data and shifted their attention to a weaker dollar and potential supply threats in Chile. Copper, Nickel and Zinc were the front runners. Aluminum was an exception as it was down by almost 1% in last trading session. IN FOCUS - Canadian nickel and copper miner FNX Mining said it expects a 31 percent increase in 2010 ore production and said majority of the production is expected from copper-precious metal dominant deposits. - Peru's production of copper and gold fell by 5.88% and 3.90% respectively in November from the same month a year ago, the mining ministry said on Tuesday. Peru, a leading global metals exporter, is the world's top producer of silver, No. 3 in copper and ranks sixth in gold. - Japanese copper wire and cable shipments amounted to an estimated 58,700 tonnes in November, down 7.7 percent from a year earlier, an industry body said on Thursday. November's figures represented the 14th consecutive month of year-on-year decline but the smallest in the series of year-earlier drops that began in October 2008. - Japan's output of rolled copper product rose to 69,132 tonnes in November on a seasonally adjust basis, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier, preliminary data showed on Thursday. The figure represents a 2.1 percent rise from October, the Japan Copper and Brass Association said. - Top world copper producer Chile's Codelco has enough metal to meet deliveries if workers at its Chuquicamata mine, which produces nearly 4 percent of global supply, strike over pay, a company source said on Wednesday. - Brazilian mining company Vale sees its iron ore production in 2010 rising to around 300 million tonnes, boosted by a recovery in global demand, Chief Executive Roger Agnelli said on Wednesday. FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK Precious metals are trading a tad higher on the back of continued weakness in dollar from previous trading session- We expect dollar to weaken further during the backed by some risk appitite in the market- Such a development may further support precious metals prices-