Copper climbed to records in New York and London after U.S. businesses grew at the fastest pace in two decades and Chinese manufacturing expanded, signaling robust demand.
The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said today its business barometer rose to 68.6 this month, the highest level since July 1988. A purchasing managers’ index in China was 54.4 in December, according to HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics. Figures over 50 signal expansion. China and the U.S. are the world’s biggest copper users.
“The trend is on for higher prices” as the economy accelerates and demand rises, said Richard Ilczyszyn, a senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a broker in Chicago. “It’s supply concerns that set up this whole bull run.”。
Copper futures for March delivery rose 5.1 cents, or 1.2 percent, to close at $4.3625 a pound at 1 p.m. on the Comex in New York. Earlier, the price jumped to an all-time high of $4.379.
Global inventories are down 19 percent this year, heading for the biggest annual decline since 2004, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Stockpiles will continue to drop next year as supplies fall short of demand by 825,000 metric tons, Barclays Capital said in a report on Dec. 22. The shortage this year is estimated at 449,000 tons, the bank said.
Prices have jumped 30 percent this year. Copper is used in homes, electrical grids and appliances.
“I saw more construction than ever” in China during a trip in November, Jay Goldstein, the president of Montreal- based Lorbec Metals Ltd., said today in an e-mail.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months climbed $95, or 1 percent, to $9,495 a ton （$4.31 a pound）, after reaching a record $9,550.
Nickel and zinc also gained on the LME. Aluminum, lead and tin fell.
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