Copper Falls on Antamina Mine Strike While Oil Weighs on Metals Copper in London slid to an eight-month low as a strike is set to end at the Antamina copper mine in Peru. Aluminum extended losses as oil fell. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Glencore Plc’s copper and zinc mine in Peru will return to normal operations next week as a three-week strike ends, the operating company said yesterday. Antamina is the world’s sixth-largest copper mine, according to the International Copper Study Group. Aluminum fell for a second day as Brent crude headed for the biggest weekly drop in three years after OPEC took no action to ease a global supply glut. “The base metals complex is poised to fall today as commodities trading sentiment was damped by the slump in crude oil prices,” said Fang Junfeng, an analyst at Shanghai CIFCO Futures Co. “Copper prices were also pressured from the fundamental side” by Antamina, he said. Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange fell as much as 1.2 percent to $6,481.25 a metric ton, the lowest since March 25, and was trading at $6,484 at 3:51 p.m. in Hong Kong. Prices fell 3.6 percent this week, heading to the biggest weekly loss since March. The metal for February on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped 1.6 percent to close at 45,990 yuan ($7,484) a ton. March contracts in New York slid 1.32 percent to $2.919 a pound. Floor trading on the Comex was closed yesterday because of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Aluminum prices fell as the deflationary impact of slumping oil prices signals lower production costs for the energy-intensive metal, according to Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. “OPEC’s decision weighed heavily on prices” for base metals, analysts including Justin Fabo said in a report today. Aluminum in London dropped as much as 0.5 percent to $2,033 a ton. Nickel and zinc also declined on the LME, while tin was unchanged.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 03:52:02 +0000
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