Commodity Blog

Archive for November 10th, 2009

Copper prices slid in New York on signs of waning demand in China today. Inventories monitored by LME rose for a sixth straight session to the highest since May 5th as there are few domestic buyers and the metal waits to be re-exported.

The metal rises and falls according to movement of the dollar. Some investors buy copper and other commodities when the U.S. currency falls to preserve their purchasing power.

Copper may decline at the start of the next year because of slower Chinese imports. The metal more than doubled in the fist half of this year with the help of record imports in China, a declining dollar and expectations for an economic rebound. China may decrease copper imports 30 percent in 2010 as consumption level lowers.

December futures for copper delivery slid $0.0085 (0.3 percent) to $2.959 per pound by 11:42 on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. The metal will likely reach $2.60 per pound in 2010, up from $2.34 this year.

Latest commodity prices (ICE, NYMEX, CME) as of 18:38 GMT:

Oil (Brent) — $76.72
Gold — $1,101.80
Silver — $17.24
Palladium — $332.77
Platinum — $1,350.98
Copper — $6,523.00
Aluminum — $1,953.00
Nickel — $16,900.00
Zinc — $2,165.00
Cocoa — $3,083.00
Sugar — $22.00
Corn — $392.75
Soybean — $37.99