The price of base metals, including copper and aluminum, headed higher on June 29 following weeks of heavy falls as the market focused again on tight supplies and strong demand.
Stocks stored by the London Metal Exchange (LME) "are likely to remain relatively low in the short to medium term, with refined production growth limited in most cases and demand remaining robust on the back of strong global economic growth", UBS analyst Robin Bahr said.
On the LME, three-month copper prices rose to $7,215 per ton in afternoon trading on June 29, off a low of $6,410 in mid-June but far from their record high of $8,800 on May 11. Copper is used in pipes for plumbing and in electrical cables.
Elsewhere June 29 aluminum, the most-used metal in the world, reached $2,555 per ton. Zinc, used to galvanize iron and steel, hit $3,100 per ton.
The prices of base metals have plummeted during the past seven weeks, mirroring a downward trend earlier this month on global stock markets.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
