MARKET ROUNDUP
Copper was firm in late trade on Wednesday, with London prices holding just below the $8,000 per tonne level, as a weaker dollar offered support and positive earnings results and macro data boosted sentiment towards riskier assets -- including some key commodities.
IN FOCUS
- China's power generation in March rose 17.6 percent from a year earlier to 336.95 billion kilowatt hours (kWh), official data showed on Thursday, extending recent rapid growth on the back of rising industrial demand.
- China's March production of refined copper stood flat after rising 4.1 percent in the previous month but aluminium output rose 4.3 percent to hit a record high.
- China, the world's top producer of aluminium, lead and zinc and biggest consumer for many base metals, produced 358,000 tonnes of refined copper in March, unchanged from February, the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.
- Aluminium production expanded 4.3 percent to 1.36 million tonnes in March after rising 3.6 percent in previous month despite insufficient power supplies for some aluminium smelters in drought-hit provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou.
- Production of zinc jumped 16 percent in March and lead rose 29.8 percent, both recovering from falls in February when repairs around the Lunar New cut output, analysts said.
- A drought in Yunnan province forced dozens of lead smelters in Gejiu city, China's main lead production centre which houses about 500,000 tonnes of lead capacity, to shut down and the smelters may not restart production until June when supplies of hydropower and water rise.
- Chinese crude steel output rose 22.5 percent in March over a year earlier to 54.97 million tonnes, official data showed on Thursday, with demand from downstream customers remaining strong.
- Inbound U.S. shipments of industrial metals slumped during the first two months of the New Year, as the economy tried to claw its way out of the worst recession since the Great Depression.
- Australia's Equinox Minerals Ltd. reported a 37 percent jump in output at its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia in the first quarter, and forecast it would grow production even further this year.
- Russian nickel and copper export volumes fell in January-February 2010 from the same period of 2009, but their value rose, while aluminium export volumes rose and their value declined, customs data showed on Wednesday.
FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK
Industrial metals are trading a trading a tad higher on international bourses. Outlook for industrial metals is sideways to up for the day. In the evening session we have industrial production numbers to be released by the US, expectation for the same is positive for the day. Copper and Nickel in pariculars looks strong for the day.
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