By Claudia Carpenter
Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Copper rose in London, trimming this week’s drop, as China’s biggest inventory slide in almost a year signaled declining supplies.
Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 30 percent to 15,871 metric tons in the week through yesterday, the biggest drop since Jan. 24. China is the world’s largest buyer of copper and some traders had expected purchases before China’s five-week Lunar New Year holiday that starts Jan. 26.
The inventory drop is “bullish,” said Stephen Briggs, an analyst at RBS Global Banking and Markets in London. “Prices went up overnight because Shanghai stocks were expected to be down.”
Copper for delivery in three months gained $91, or 2.8 percent, to $3,371 a ton as of 9:02 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange, heading for a 0.9 percent weekly drop. The contract rose 5.2 percent last week.
Aluminum gained $2 to $1,482 a ton. About half of the aluminum industry is producing metal at a cash operating loss, and “major closure announcements will be made in coming weeks,” Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. analyst Andrew Keen in London wrote in a report today.
Lead advanced $4.50 to $1,158.50 a ton, nickel increased $180 to $10,875 a ton and zinc jumped $13.50 to $1,276. Tin declined $5 to $11,000 a ton.
To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
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