Latest copper market outlook supports higher prices.(Brief Article)

Purchasing, March, 2000 by STUNDZA, TOM

After a fairly quiet December, copper prices on the commodity exchanges have jumped higher early this year. The main cause appears to have been global supply disruptions at operations in Chuquicamata in Chile (declining reserves) and Olympic Dam in southern Australia (a fire), which helped to fuel bullish sentiment among traders. Another factor was the renewed production problems at strike-plagued Kidd Creek in Canada.

By contrast, stocks have continued to move erratically, continuing a saw-toothed pattern that became established in mid-1999. Still, most analysts still see copper prices much higher than the sub-$1,400/tonne levels of early 1999. Metal Bulletin Research, for example, is forecasting a steady improvement in market fundamentals this year, with...

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