Bullion & Base Metal Commodity News

Copper & Crude Oil too seem to have hit near term bottoms & could turn & rise. Fundamentally speaking, most commodities should be taking an upside swing from hereon. Copper Futures Trading volume has been below average so far in October & can be expected to pick up only from next week onward after the LME week is over by this weekend. Chinese imports of copper rose in September. Base Metal imports in September were already relatively strong and proved a positive surprise. Copper imports climbed by 11% from the prior month to 394,837 metric tons. In the first nine months of the year, China thus imported around 3.6 million tons of copper products, 32.6% more than in the same period last year. China’s iron ore shipments rose 4.1% in September to 65.01 million tons, the highest level since January 2011. Fears in the Base Metals complex about Chinese economic growth may be heavily exaggerated. China is a key consumer of industrial commodities & the demand will rise as it develops its infrastructure further. Since inflation dropped year-on-year to just 1.9% at the same time, reaching its second-lowest figure since January 2010, the government and central bank have more scope to launch new stimulus measures. A growing number of copper traders lately appear to be selling into rallies rather than buying on dips, as worries about the macroeconomic picture upset the bulls. Base Metals have reversed almost all gains seen after the announcement of the Fed’s QE3. An upside pace in Agro commodities seen for the past few days if joined by Base Metals & Crude Oil may trigger fresh up moves in Gold & Silver also. The relative out performance of Copper makes it our favored metal & top pick for fresh bullish moves & this in turn will provide for the much needed push in Silver also. The International Copper Study Group also shows a seasonally adjusted year-to-date supply deficit of nearly 300,000 metric tons. Overall the picture remains hazy & generally directionless until the crucial US Presidential Elections. Things seem to be taken care of conveniently, so that nothing major, Rocks the Boat…