Nickel prices plunge 6% Table based on June 12, 2007 closing base metal prices: Copper $3.2829/lb 0.0461 Zinc $1.6919/lb 0.0159 Nickel $19.0834/lb 01.2391 Jun 12, 2007 08:26 AM Reuters LONDON – Nickel dropped by more than 6 per cent on Tuesday and copper shed more than one per cent as Chinese imports fell in May, analysts said. Nickel for delivery in three months (MNI3) on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell by 6.4 per cent to hit $39,800 a tonne, its lowest since February 23. It recovered slightly to end the official open outcry session at $40,700. "Nickel inventories are up again and cancelled warrants are down, removing some price support," analyst Michael Widmer at Calyon said. Cancelled warrants represent metal earmarked for delivery from LME-registered warehouses to users. Nickel stocks rose by 42 tonnes to 8,922, with over two days of global consumption or 8,478 tonnes available to the market. Three-months copper (MCU3) was down $140 or 1.9 per cent at $7,220 after rising 3 per cent in the previous session. "There is downward pressure on copper emanating from Chinese import figures, while upward pressure comes from possible strikes at Collahuasi and Grupo Mexico," Widmer said. China imported 220,561 tonnes of copper, including semi-finished products, in May, down about a quarter from the high levels seen in March and April. In Chile, workers at Collahuasi, which can produce around 400,000 tonnes of copper a year, said they planned demonstrations later this week to demand an improved labour contract proposal from mine managers. In Mexico, workers at the country's largest copper mine have backed a strike call by their union, bringing a threatened stoppage a step closer at nine Grupo Mexico operations later this week. The union official said the strike at the Cananea copper mine and eight other facilities would begin at midday on Friday if no deal was reached with Grupo Mexico.
Yes, I was reading about that on another board this morning. I suppose it had to happen. I mean, why should the base metal markets be any different than any others? Sometimes they go up...sometimes they go down.
