Nickel hits 10-mth low on weak demand, lead strong

(Reuters) - Nickel fell to a 10-month low on Friday as weak demand from the stainless steel sector prompted investors to cut their positions, while lead gained more than 3 percent after a strike in Namibia prompted speculative buying.

Base metals came under pressure in afternoon trade as stock markets slipped after U.S. data reignited worries about the health of the world's biggest economy.


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Nickel Heads for Second Weekly Drop in London on Stockpiles; Lead Rises

(Bloomberg) -- Nickel headed for a second
consecutive weekly decline, dropping to a nine-month low, as
stockpiles of the metal rose, expanding supply. Lead, zinc and
copper also dropped.

Inventories of nickel tracked by the London Metal Exchange
grew 330 metric tons to 15,138 tons, the exchange said today in
a daily report. Stockpiles have risen fivefold since Feb. 6,
when they were at a 15-year low.


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Lead Stockpiles on LME Decline to Three-Month Low; Nickel Inventories Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Lead stockpiles monitored by the
London Metal Exchange fell to the lowest in more than three
months. Nickel inventories rose to a 13-month high.

The lead inventories dropped 450 metric tons, or 1.1
percent, to 39,000 tons, the LME said today in a daily report.
That's the lowest since April 19.


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Lead Rises to Record in London on Ivernia Supply Concern; Nickel Declines

(Bloomberg) -- Lead rose to a record for a fourth
session in London on expectations Ivernia Inc., producer of about
3 percent of the world's mined supply, will extend the suspension
of exports from a port in Australia. Nickel and copper fell.

Ivernia's plan to ship product from the port of Fremantle,
following the March 12 suspension at Esperance, was opposed by
Fremantle's mayor. The metal, used in car batteries, has soared
62 percent since the suspension, ordered amid an investigation
into lead poisoning at the port.


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Nickel Drops in London on Speculation Usage Is Weakening; Copper Advances

(Bloomberg) -- Nickel dropped in London, heading for
a fourth weekly decline, on speculation near-record prices will
curb demand for the metal used in stainless-steel production.
Copper gained after stockpiles shrank to a six-month low.

Nickel has lost 27 percent from a record $51,800 a metric
ton on May 9 after steelmakers including ThyssenKrupp AG said
they will reduce purchases to cut costs. Supply will outpace
demand next year, from a balance this year, Sanford C Bernstein &
Co. said today in a report.


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Lead touches fresh record high, nickel down

(Reuters) - London Metal Exchange lead touched a new record high on Wednesday, lifted by low stockpiles, while nickel fell by nearly two percent following the previous session's heavy losses.

Nickel for three-months delivery bounced to $38,850 a tonne, up 3.3 percent, in early trade, before falling back to $36,925/36,950 by 1446 GMT. In the previous session it closed at $37,600 after tumbling 7.2 percent as stainless steel producers cut back use of the metal.


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Copper Rises in London on Stockpile Drop, Strike Threat; Nickel Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Copper rose in London after
stockpiles of the metal fell for a 16th consecutive day and on
speculation that miners will strike in Chile, the largest source
of the metal. Nickel and other industrial metal also gained.

Inventories of copper tracked by the London Metal Exchange
declined 900 metric tons, or 0.7 percent to 120,550 tons, the
exchange said today in a daily report. That's the lowest since
Oct. 23. Workers at projects operated by Codelco, the world's
biggest producer, and at Chile's Collahuasi mine have threatened
to strike during wage negotiations.


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LionOre says investors should accept Norilsk bid

(Reuters) - LionOre, the world's 10th-largest nickel producer, said it
is terminating the support agreement it had signed with
Xstrata, and will pay the Swiss miner an agreed C$305 million
break fee.




"The LionOre board will unanimously recommend that
shareholders accept the offer from Norilsk Nickel and deposit
their shares into the offer," LionOre said in a statement.


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Housing Market in U.K. Isn't Overvalued, Former Rate-Setter Nickell Says

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. housing market is not
overvalued, and prices may increase further in the next few years
because of a shortage of properties, former Bank of England
policy maker Stephen Nickell said.

``It might settle back a little, or remain relatively flat
for a bit, but I don't think there's any fundamental
overvaluation,'' Nickell, who served on the rate-setting panel
from 2000 to 2006, said in a telephone interview yesterday.
``Over the next few years it might keep on edging upwards.''


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Inco Indonesia Raises Reserves Estimate as Technology Extends Mine Life

(Bloomberg) -- PT International Nickel Indonesia, the
country's largest nickel miner, raised the estimate of its
mineable reserves by a fifth as the use of newer technology has
helped extend the life of its mine.

The company has extractable mineral reserves of 177 million
metric tons of ore containing 1.77 percent nickel, President Arif
Siregar said at a mining conference in Manila today. That
compares with a 2005 estimate of 145 million tons of ore with 1.8
percent nickel.


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Market Chatter: Corporate finance press digest

(Reuters) - ** The board of Norilsk Nickel arm, Citigroup Global Services Ltd, Indian business newspaper the Mint paper said, quoting industry sources.


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