Friday, October 15, 2004
Copper, Base Metals Plunge on Concern China's Usage Slowed
Bloomberg.com: Latin America: "Copper prices in New York plunged the most in 14 years, joining a decline in base metals, on concern that a slowing economy in China will erode consumption growth that led to a 15-year high in prices last week.
Consumption of copper in China, the world's biggest buyer, fell 21 percent in July from a year earlier, leading a global decline of 3.3 percent, the Lisbon-based International Copper Study Group said yesterday.
``At some point, and who knows when, there's going to be a hiccup in China, and the huge consumption everybody's expecting for the next six months or a year is not going to be so huge,'' said Ron Fisher, a basic-materials analyst in New York at Stein Roe Investment Counsel, which sold its copper holdings in March. ``The China factor is very big in the metals.''
Copper futures for December delivery fell [...] 11 percent [...] on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. A close at that price would be the biggest drop since April 1990."
Consumption of copper in China, the world's biggest buyer, fell 21 percent in July from a year earlier, leading a global decline of 3.3 percent, the Lisbon-based International Copper Study Group said yesterday.
``At some point, and who knows when, there's going to be a hiccup in China, and the huge consumption everybody's expecting for the next six months or a year is not going to be so huge,'' said Ron Fisher, a basic-materials analyst in New York at Stein Roe Investment Counsel, which sold its copper holdings in March. ``The China factor is very big in the metals.''
Copper futures for December delivery fell [...] 11 percent [...] on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. A close at that price would be the biggest drop since April 1990."
Labels: Copper