Lead Rises, Narrowing Weekly Drop, on Ivernia; Copper Declines

By Claudia Carpenter

Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Lead rose, narrowing its biggest weekly decline in three months, on signs Ivernia Inc. won't restart exports from its Magellan mine until next year, crimping supplies. Copper and other industrial metals fell.

Lead, used to make batteries, rose to a record in October last year after Ivernia was banned from exporting 3 percent of the world's mined lead from its pit in Australia. Managing Director Patrick Scott said in March the company was preparing a shipment pending final government approval.

``Some people are getting very bullish about lead's prospects,'' said John Kemp, an analyst at RBS Sempra Metals Ltd. in London. Ivernia's statement yesterday ``is slightly bullish in terms of sentiment.''

Lead for delivery in three months gained $25, or 1.5 percent, to $1,685 a metric ton as of 12:10 p.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Prices have still dropped almost 15 percent this week, the most since the week ended May 9, and are down 57 percent from the record $3,890.15 on Oct. 1.

Government approval to resume shipments probably won't occur before a September election, and then it will take at least four months to resume operations, Ivernia said yesterday.

``There's a lot of two-way interest in the lead market,'' Kemp said.

Copper fell $130 to $7,255 a ton and aluminum dropped $19.50 to $2,756.50 a ton as gains in the dollar and lower oil prices spurred selling, Kemp said. Crude oil futures dropped 1.5 percent to $113.26 a barrel.

``Oil is the bellwether for the commodity sector as a whole, and at least some people are asking whether the bull market is over,'' he said.

The UBS Bloomberg CMCI Index of 26 commodities dropped 18.96, or 1.3 percent, to 1,416.503, bringing its drop to 18 percent from a record on July 3.

Zinc fell $10 to $1,640 a ton, nickel declined $500 to $18,600 and tin decreased $200 to $18,500 a ton.

To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net or ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net