Lme Tin Heads Higher, Copper Unchanged

Tin shot up nearly $100 per tonne on mostly speculative activity on Friday in an otherwise featureless London Metal Exchange (LME) midday session, traders said.

Copper was virtually unchanged after moving sideways in low volumes. Aluminium also attracted little interest.

Three months tin finished the kerb at its high of $5,760, up $90 from Thursday's kerb close, driven by fund-related buying and a spate of borrowing, traders said.

The cash to threes contango contracted sharply to $14/$17 compared to $30 on Thursday amid borrowing in good volumes, traders said.

The tightness was mainly in mid-June to three months with cash/June ending the kerb level, June/July at $10 and July/threes at $3.

 

"The funds are long of July tin and people are having to cover. The market is going to remain quite tight for a while," one trader said "A drawdown in LME stocks was anticipated but that's what started the ball rolling," said another trader.

Tin prices had come off mid-May as Chinese and Russian material entered the market. They tumbled to a low of $5,510 on Monday before starting to trend higher.

The other metals, barring firmer nickel and lead, failed to move far from Thursday's kerb closes.