Copper Heads for Weekly Advance on Dollar; Tin Advances for Ninth Session

Sep 17 (Bloomberg)--

Copper, trading little changed, headed for a weekly advance as a weaker dollar made metals cheaper for buyers holding other currencies. Tin futures climbed for a ninth day to the highest price since July 2008.

The three-month contract on the London Metal Exchange gained as much as 0.2 percent to $7,714 a metric ton, and was at $7,706 at 11:44 a.m. in Singapore, 3 percent higher this week. The metal touched $7,729 a ton yesterday, the highest price since Sept. 6, as the dollar fell. Copper for December in Shanghai rose as much as 1.5 percent to 59,940 yuan ($8,909).

"The dollar’s been quite a big influence on metals prices and with the demand outlook still quite positive, users take advantage of the currency moves to make purchases,” said Xu Jun, an analyst at Hongyuan Futures Co.

The dollar declined for a second day against a six-currency basket including the euro before reports forecast to show German producer prices rose for a sixth month and U.S. consumer confidence improved. The U.S. currency was at $1.3106 per euro from $1.3078.

"After the Chinese holidays in October, we fully expect demand to pick up and supplies to tighten,” Xu said. At the moment, "consumption hasn’t fully picked up from the summer lull and we’re only getting hand-to-mouth buying.”

Financial markets in China, the world’s largest metals user, are closed from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24 for the Mid-Autumn festival holiday, and again from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7 for the National Day holiday. Copper is used to make pipes and wires.

Copper Inventories

Copper stockpiles in Shanghai shrank for a second week, dropping to a seven-month low of 98,025 tons last week, according to the Shanghai Futures Exchange. The exchange will release this week’s data after the market closes today.

In Peru, the second-largest copper producer after Chile, miners may vote this week to start a national strike to press for better pensions and a greater share of profits, a union leader said Sept. 14. Protesters in the country attempted to seize Xstrata Plc’s

Tintaya copper mine in the southern Andes yesterday after clashes with police left two dead.
Tin climbed as much as $27 to $23,522 a ton, taking gains since the close of trade on Sept. 6 to about 13 percent. The metal, which touched a record $25,500 in May 2008, has been bolstered by disruptions to production in Congo and Indonesia.

Zinc in London rose 1 percent to $2,170 a ton, lead gained 1 percent to $2,225 a ton, and nickel increased 0.4 percent to $23,340 a ton. Aluminum was little changed at $2,165 a ton.