Comex copper falls

Copper futures in New York settled a shade lower on Wednesday, with the December-March spread dominating dealings during an otherwise slow pre-holiday session, traders said. Comex will be shut on Thursday and Friday in observance of US Thanksgiving. Trading resumes on Monday. "Most of the activity was in the spreads today.
Outright business was very technical, just off the numbers from London there was nothing here. A lot of people looked like they cut out for the holiday, so most of the activity today was in the December-March," said one dealer down on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division.
Copper for March delivery settled down 1.15 cents at $3.1360 per lb after dealing $3.1150 to $3.2050. December dipped 0.45 cent to $3.1110 after moving between $3.09 and $3.1710. Spot November lost 0.45 cent as well to $3.1060, with the rest retreating 0.85 to 1.40 cents.
Final estimated volume amounted to 16,000 lots, with 3,129 lots of spreads changing hands. With one week left before December copper goes into delivery, speculative players will continue to reposition their holdings in December copper to avoid taking actual physical delivery of the metal when delivery begins on November 30.
As of November 21, open interest in December copper fell 3,342 lots to 15,971 lots, while interest in March futures increased 2,602 lots to 42,607 lots. Comex copper futures followed their call of 3.00 cents higher, garnering underlying support from London copper's breach of the $7,000 (a tonne) level and a second straight day of stock declines in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange.
However, the advance petered out and the light sales pressure that moved in found little resistance, knocking prices into the red point, traders said. "We had a little bit of selling come in, and whatever paper there was just pushed it down because there was nothing there to support it," one said.
Overnight inventory data showed LME warehouse stocks fell by 675 tonnes to 157,250 tonnes on Wednesday, while Comex stocks were up 1,045 short tons at 28,968 short tons on Tuesday. The nearly 44 percent rise in copper inventory levels for the past month have heightened concerns over the market's waning demand.
On Tuesday, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said world refined copper production exceeded usage by 84,000 tonnes between January and August this year, versus a deficit of 233,000 tonnes in the same year-ago period. However, the ever-present threats of supply disruptions in the market were seen limiting heavy losses. Nearly 300 workers from three smaller unions at Chile's Codelco Norte, the giant state-owned copper miner's largest division, voted to accept a three-year contract offer.
The three largest unions at Codelco Norte, comprising nearly 6,000 workers, have until December 31 to reach a deal with the company or go on strike. Meanwhile, electronic trading of metals on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange will begin December 3, the exchange announced on Tuesday, a day after exchange members voted for the change. LME three-month copper settled at $6,900 a tonne, down $70 from Tuesday's kerb close.