Isra-Mart srl: Copper firms as supply fears offset global economy woes

www.isramart.com
Copper prices gained more than 1 percent on Wednesday after falling for three consecutive days as a series of labour disputes at mines threatened production and
helped offset jitters about the health of the global economy.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange climbed 1.2 percent to $9,037 a tonne by 0701 GMT, after ending the previous session 0.3 percent lower.
Analysts say labour disputes at copper mines in Indonesia and Peru were supporting the red metal, used in power and construction.
"If you also look at LME and prices in China, the spreads on some are pretty wide as well," said Dominic Schnider, head of commodity research of UBS Wealth Management in Singapore. "Very copper specific is the fact that we're probably going to see a
strike at the (Freeport) Grasberg mine."
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold's Indonesia mine workers are set to strike from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 unless the firm meets their demands for a pay rise, a union official told Reuters on Tuesday.
Workers at Peru's third biggest copper mine, Cerro Verde, are due to launch a 48-hour strike on Wednesday for higher pay.

The most-active November copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFc3 traded 1.2 percent higher at 67,800 yuan per tonne, after ending little-changed in the
previous session.

Equity markets also provided support, with the Nikkei average up 2 percent on short-covering after three days of losses, with market participants calling the move a short-term rebound amid fears about sovereign debt in Europe and a U.S. economic slowdown. Despite signs that the economic recovery in the United States is faltering, U.S. shares ended above the session's lows on Tuesday after data showed the U.S. services sector picked up steam unexpectedly last month following a three-month streak of slower growth.
"Support has come from the non-manufacturing ISM," Schnider said. "That was a supporting sign."
Further clues about business conditions in the world's top economy may come from the release of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book due on Wednesday nFXDIARY. The anecdotal
narrative of business and economic conditions across the United States is likely to describe an anemic U.S. labour market.
Metals investors are also eyeing Chinese imports and inflationary data due on Friday, which analysts say could offer further market direction.
"Up modestly," said David Thurtell, a Singapore-based metals analyst at Citigroup. "There are looming strikes at copper mines, but the macro side is likely to cap the
complex for some time."
Analysts also say that options helped push copper over the dominant strike price of $9,000, as investors approach the month's options declaration deadline later in early London trading hours.
Most other metals were trading slightly higher, with aluminium at $2,397 from $2,380 on Tuesday, battery-material lead at $2,424.25 versus $2,388 and nickel at $21,090 from $20,675.
Global nickel demand is forecast to rise 4-5 percent a year, the chief executive at French mining group Eramet said.
"Over the last couple of days we came under pressure based on economic concerns ... but the tightness is certainly still out there when you look down the curve," Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Commodity Broking Services said on copper.
Tin traded at $24,095 from $23,875, while zinc, used in galvanizing, was at $2,218 a tonne versus $2,190 at Tuesday's close.
Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months

^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month.