A number of commodities saw their prices fall last week owing to a steadier dollar, but there were record highs for base metals nickel and lead. On Friday, the Commodities Research Bureau's index of 17 commodities decreased to 314.63 points, from 319 points the previous week.
The previous week, amid a sliding dollar, gold had climbed to the highest level for three and a half months. A weak US currency makes dollar-denominated products cheaper for buyers using other currencies, pushing up demand. On the London Bullion Market, gold prices dropped to 637.40 dollars per ounce at Friday's late fixing, from 648.75 dollars one week earlier.
Global mining giant Anglo American meanwhile said Thursday that it had approved the construction of facilities to mine nickel in Brazil. The Barro Alto project will cost about 1.2 billion dollars (903 million euros) and production of the metal is expected to start in 2010. The price of lead meanwhile reached 1,758 dollars per tonne on Tuesday, the highest reading since the metal began trading in London in 1953. Lead is used widely in the manufacturing of batteries.
"Lead set a fresh all-time high... buoyed by LME lead inventories falling to their lowest levels in 2006," Barclays Capital analyst Sudakshina Unnikrishnan said. On Friday, three-month copper prices fell to 6,846 dollars per tonne on the LME from 6,976 dollars the previous week. Three-month aluminium prices rose to 2,815 dollars per tonne from 2,746 dollars.
Three-month nickel prices eased to 33,955 dollars per tonne from 34,250 dollars. Three-month lead prices jumped to 1,731.50 dollars per tonne from 1,683 dollars. Three-month zinc prices dropped to 4,270 dollars per tonne from 4,400 dollars. Three-month tin prices increased to 10,975 dollars per tonne from 10,595 dollars a week earlier.
"Fighters of the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), attacked and destroyed the Agip installation in Brass in the Niger delta," the group said in an e-mail statement to AFP. They threatened to launch further attacks on Nigeria's oil industry in "the following days".
The attack in Nigeria came a day after official data had shown that US energy inventories dropped in the week ended December 1 as winter temperatures took hold in the US north-east.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries was meanwhile likely to propose a further production cut of 1.0-1.5 million barrels per day to support prices, Indonesian Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Friday.
At its most recent meeting in Qatar in October, Opec approved a cut in its output quota of 1.2 million barrels per day to stem falling prices, which have dropped from record highs above 78 dollars in July and August.
At about 1530 GMT on Friday in New York, a barrel of crude for delivery in January rose to 63.55 dollars per barrel from 62.82 dollars the previous week. In London, a barrel of Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January stood at 63.90 dollars per barrel, down from 64.05 dollars.
On TOCOM, Tokyo's commodity exchange, natural rubber for May delivery rose to 212.20 yen per kilogramme on Friday, from 191.70 yen a week earlier. Singapore's RSS 3 April contract climbed to 175.75 US cents per kilogramme on Friday, from 160 US cents a week earlier.
On the Liffe, London's futures exchange, the price of cocoa for March delivery increased to 884 pounds per tonne on Friday, from 845 pounds a week earlier.
On the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), the March contract gained to 1,635 dollars per tonne on Friday, from 1,571 dollars the previous week.
On the Chicago Board of Trade, the price of wheat for March delivery fell to 4.95 US dollars per bushel on Friday, from 5.21 dollars a week earlier. Maize for March delivery dropped to 3.72 dollars per bushel on Friday, from 3.87 dollars the previous week.
January-dated soyabean meal - used in animal feed - decreased to 6.77 dollars, from 6.81 dollars the previous week. On the Liffe, the price of a tonne of wheat for January delivery slipped to 93.25 pounds on Friday, from 97.00 pounds.
On the NYBOT, the March contract slipped to 52.90 US cents per pound on Friday, from 53.35 US cents the previous week. The Cotton Outlook Index of physical cotton jumped to 58.45 US cents on Thursday, from 57.85 cents a week earlier.
The Eastern index stood at 8.25 Australian dollars per kilo on Thursday, unchanged from the previous week. The British Wooltops index remained at 440 pence on Thursday, compared with the previous week.