MARKET ROUNDUP
Industrial metal prices ended up on Monday after hitting their highest level in one week, as improved economic sentiment from surprisingly strong new home sales data late last week boosted prices and outweighed the bearish impact of a firmer dollar.
IN FOCUS
- Copper and cobalt production from Democratic Republic of Congo will more than double over the next two years, signalling a surge in revenues, according to a government forecast obtained by Reuters on Monday.
- South Korea bought 3,000 tonnes of primary aluminium ingot of worldwide origin for June shipment via a tender.The state run Public Procurement Service said that domestic trading company LG International Corporation has agreed to supply the metal for June 30 arrival to the port of Incheon at a premium of USD 103 per tonne over London Exchange cash prices on a cost, insurance and freight basis.
- Vancouver-based Yukon Zinc has suspended construction and underground activities at its Wolverine project, after a worker died in an underground accident on Sunday.Total production in March was 2.045 million tonnes, compared with a revised 1.816 million tonnes in February. Total production in March 2009 was 2.019 million tonnes.
- Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Q1 copper sales fell to 960 million pounds from 1 billion in the year earlier period, but noted it expects higher sales in the H2 due to improved sequencing at its Grasberg mine. The company reiterated that it expected copper sales of 3.8 billion lbs in 2010.BHP Billiton also reported a heavy fall in copper output, which was down 19 percent in the March quarter from a year earlier, partly due to disruptions at its Olympic Dam mine.
FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK
Industrial metals are trading a tad lower on international bourses. Today we have the consumer confidence and case-shiller data from the US. Any positive surprise in those numbers will limit the downside in Industrial metals.
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