Aluminum scales new peak

Aluminum jumped to its highest level in more than a year in Shanghai on signs of recovering demand in Asia, including China and Japan.

Futures in Shanghai have gained 34 percent and aluminum in London has advanced 29 percent this year as the Dollar Index declined 6.4 percent against six major currencies. The currency index fell for the first time in five days, boosting the appeal of commodities as a store of value.

"Compared with other markets, such as equities and oil, base metals looked strong because of the dollar's weakness," Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Fujitomi Co, said yesterday. "We've seen a continued influx of funds in the metals market."

January-delivery aluminum on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained as much as 2.2 percent to 15,560 yuan a metric ton, the highest level since Sept 26, 2008.

The metal for delivery in three months rose 0.3 percent to $1,990 a ton on the London Metal Exchange.

China's imports of aluminum jumped to 1.4 million tons in the first nine months from 91,274 tons in the same period a year earlier, according to Customs office data.

Copper for delivery in three months gained as much as 1.2 percent to $6,660 a ton and was quoted at $6,614 in afternoon trade in Shanghai, snapping the previous two days' losses.

The metal used in cables, pipes and tubes rose to a 13-month high of $6,732 a ton on Oct 26 after a report showed China's copper imports, the world's largest, expanded for the first time in three months.

The December-delivery contract on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 1.2 percent to $3.034 a pound. January-delivery copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange added as much as 1.3 percent to 51,840 yuan a ton and last traded at 51,350 yuan.

Among other LME-traded metals, zinc dropped 0.7 percent to $2,298 a ton and lead added 0.6 percent to $2,285 a ton. Nickel and tin were unchanged at $18,650 and at $15,395 a ton.

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