SHANGHAI, Dec. 19 (CBI China) -- Yesterday, affected by the current automotive industry and the markets U.S. stocks fell again, with the three major stock indexes declining by 2%. As to commodity, prices of crude oil and copper were broken under significant support yesterday, falling to the lowest level in four years. Chrysler announced that they will suspend production on December 19th, resulting in greater pressure on the market sentiment. As to cost, the price of copper is still higher than the cost, and may fall further in the short term. As to nickel, the inventory increased sharply by 2,214 mt, indicating a further weakening in demand. However, there are more production cuts at suppliers; Oz Minerals announced the closure of its Avebury nickel mine who has signed an exclusive supply agreement with Jinchuan Nickel Group, with an annual capacity of 8,500 mt of nickel. It also shows that the current price of USD 10,000/mt has been much lower than production costs, but demand will continue to guide the prices. It is expected that the prices will stabilize with a slight decline, and USD 9,000/mt is still an important level.

    Today, the price of nickel is expected to continue to fluctuate slightly, within USD 9,400-9,800/mt.

 Copyright © 2008, CBI (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use in any form or means, without the prior written consent of CBI China. For reproduction issue, please contact us by email: metalresearch@cbichina.com or tel:86-21-51550040