Base metals see higher prices this week

Most base metals prices saw gains over the week, despite declines on Friday. Tin prices added 8 percent during the week on concerns over Indonesian supplies, going up to a high of $13,300 per tonne at one point. Lead added 11 percent this week after Xstrata stopped production at a UK facility and saw reduced supplies coming from a smelter in Queensland. In addition, London Metal Exchange stockpiles are down by 20 percent since the beginning of the year.

Nickel added 10 percent this week and prices are up by over 23 percent since the beginning of the year. Despite the gains, which saw the price of three-month nickel hit $40,000 per tonne earlier in the week, it dropped $700 on the day Friday to $38,800 late in the day in London. Global stockpiles remain low.

Copper prices fell $40 on Friday to $5,850 per tonne after the news that the market saw a surplus of copper for the majority of last year. Output was 108,000 tonnes higher than use during the period of January through November 2006.

Gold dropped $3 on Friday to trade around $665.90/$666.60 per troy ounce. Prices were steady on the week and have added nearly 5 percent since the beginning of the year.