Industrial metals came under pressure on Friday on worries about softer demand, though tin touched a new record high on supply problems, analysts said. Lead on the London Metal Exchange dropped to an 11-month low, zinc fell to a six-month trough and nickel shed 4.2 per cent.
TIN Tin bucked the downward trend to hit a new high on restricted supply from world number two producer Indonesia. Tin touched an all-time high of $24,650 a tonne before closing at $24,585, up $135 from Thursday.
LME stocks have fallen 37 per cent this year to stand at 7,565 tonnes, less than one day of global consumption. Huge additions to exchange warehouse inventories sent copper tumbling on Friday.
LME copper for delivery in three months closed at the session low of $8,100 a tonne, down $200 from Thursday. In New York, copper for July delivery ended with losses of 7.10 cent at $3.7165 a lb on the COMEX metals division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, though slid to a nine-day low at $3.6775 a lb. Sellers left support at the May 1 low of $3.6675 a lb intact for July futures, a breach of which would lead to the March low at $3.6070 per lb. Inventories of copper in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased 10 per cent in the week to Thursday, or by around 4,600 tonnes to 51,119 tonnes. In LME warehouses, stocks jumped by a hefty 11,150 tonnes to 121,275, just over two days of global consumption. Three-months lead fell to $2,187 per tonne, its lowest since the end of May 2007 and closed at $2,191 per tonne, down $129 from Thursday. Zinc to $2,142 per tonne -- the lowest since November 2007 -- before ending at $2,151, down $67. Nickel to $26,525 per tonne, its lowest since February, and was last at $26,675, down $1,025. Traders said lack of demand from stainless steel producers weighed on the metal. Aluminium closed at $2,885 versus $2,875. Metal Prices at 1609 GMT Metal
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