(Bloomberg) — Copper rebounded as torrential rain in Chile closed mines in the world’s biggest producer of the metal.
Copper rose as much as 0.6 percent. Some of the world’s largest copper mines were forced to shut down as rains in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile closed roads and flooded towns. Codelco, the world’s biggest copper producer, shut all of its Atacama mines including Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic, according to the state-owned company.
“Copper supply expectations have been revised again after news that rains in Chile forced mines shut,” said Fang Junfeng, an analyst at Shanghai Cifco Futures Co. “The market is entering a peak consumption season in the northern hemisphere.”
Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.5 percent at $6,154.50 a metric ton ($2.79 a pound) at 12:46 p.m. in Shanghai. Prices fell 0.3 percent to $6,125 a ton on Wednesday.
On the Comex in New York, copper for May delivery gained 0.6 percent at $2.8075 a pound, while the metal for June in Shanghai rose 0.5 percent to 43,880 yuan ($7,060) a ton.
The metal earlier fell as much as 0.3 percent in London after U.S. durable goods orders unexpectedly fell Wednesday from the world’s second-biggest consumer of the metal. U.S. jobless claims to March 21 fell to 290,000 from 291,000 a week earlier, according to a Bloomberg survey before the data Thursday.
On the LME, aluminum and nickel rose while zinc and lead were little changed. Tin was unchanged.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Alfred Cang in Shanghai at[email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at[email protected] Jarrett Banks
Original Article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-26/copper-holds-decline-on-weaker-u-s-durables-as-jobs-data-eyed
