Copper Off The Wire Copper soars to nine-year high on tight supply and weak dollar Reuters Reuters Friday February 19, 2021 09:19 Kitco News (Updates with official prices) LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Copper jumped to its highest in more than nine years on Friday and towards a third straight weekly gain as tight supplies and bullish sentiment towards base metals continued after the Chinese New Year. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) added 2.5% to $8,763 a tonne in official trading. The metal used in power and construction touched a peak of $8,848, its highest since September 2011. The return of the Chinese market post the Lunar New Year has seen some renewed interest in base metals, said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, a partner at consultancy T-Commodity in Milan. The very short term for copper is bullish, but we are in the latest phase of a rally and we would look to short the area closer to $9,000. INVENTORIES: Inventories of copper in warehouse registered with the LME are near 2005 lows at 75,700 tonnes, keeping the premium for cash copper over the three-month contract elevated at about $20 a tonne. MCUSTX-TOTALMCU0-3 Cancelled warrants - metal earmarked for delivery - account for about 39% and further fuelled concerns about tight supply on the LME market. POSITIONING: Speculative interest in copper was elevated, adding to interest in the metal. The net speculative long on LME copper is seen at 45% of open interest at Wednesdays close, near the year-to-date peak of 46% last month, brokerage Marex Spectron said. CHINA STOCKS: Stocks of copper, zinc and aluminium jumped in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange after the Chinese New Year. CU-STX-SGH DOLLAR: A weaker dollar also helped to boost the appeal of metals priced in the currency. TRADE WAR: U.S. tariffs imposed on Chinese goods by the former Trump administration will be kept in place for now but but will be evaluated after a thorough review, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNBC. OTHER PRICES: LME aluminium gained 0.6% to $2,150.50 a tonne, zinc advanced 1.1% to $2,885.50, lead gained 0.9% to $2,135.50 and tin climbed 2.1% to $25,446 while nickel was up 1.9% at $19,512. Reporting by Zandi Shabalala Additional reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila Editing by David Evans and David Goodman Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.