Copper May Fall on Speculation of Slower Growth, Survey Shows

Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) --Copper may fall as protests in the Middle East and North Africa boost oil prices and inflation, hampering global growth, a survey showed.

Eight of 12 analysts, investors and traders surveyed by Bloomberg, or 67 percent, said the metal will drop next week. Three predicted higher prices and one forecast little change. Copper for delivery in three months was down 3.9 percent this week at $9,475 a metric ton by 2:47 p.m. yesterday on the London Metal Exchange.

Copper will be “down a bit until things in the Middle East settle down,” Joseph Gartland, president of H.M. Hillman Brass & Copper Inc. in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, said by e- mail.

Oil climbed to a 30-month high in London yesterday as Libya, Africa’s third-largest producer, cut supplies.

The red bars on the attached chart are derived by subtracting bearish forecasts from bullish estimates, with readings below zero signaling the majority of respondents expect a decline. The green line shows the copper price. The survey data shown are as of Feb. 18.

The weekly copper survey has forecast prices accurately in 59 of the past 125 weeks, or 47 percent of the time.

This week’s survey results: Bearish: 8 Bullish: 3 Hold: 1