China copper seen peaking: China's copper stocks may have peaked as imports dwindle and major producers cut back output, traders said. Total copper stocks in China, estimated at about 250,000 tonnes excluding those in bonded warehouses, had changed little since early August, they said. "People are not as jittery about stocks as in the past,"said a trader, who noted that spot copper prices had held up better than futures prices thanks to the anti-smuggling campaign. Earlier this year, a premium of Chinese copper over international prices attracted a flood of illegal imports, but those have all but dried up in recent months. The three-month contango now stands at 720 to 750 yuan($87.8), tighter than what was considered as normal carrying charge of 800 yuan, traders said. Copper warehouse stocks at both Shanghai and Shenzhen Exchanges are still rising, but traders said the increase was largely due to movements from private storage toexchange warehouses. Copper stocks held outside the exchange warehouses, including those at the fabricators, were estimated at about 250,000 tonnes. Copper producers, who were often hard pressed to keep afloat, could get bank credit if they deliver copper to the exchange warehouse and use the warrants as collateral.

Nippon Mining open to ties with LG: Nippon Mining & Metals Co Ltd the biggest copper smelter in Japan, said on Thursday it was open to discussing cooperation with South Korean rival LG Metals Corp. "If we are asked in one way or another...and it is in the scope of our capability, we would like to consider cooperation," Takashi Sakamoto, president of Nippon Mining, told Reuters. Sakamoto said, however, Nippon Mining was currently not in talks with the troubled South Korean company, though he confirmed LG had contacted Nippon Mining. "It's true they have contacted us. But we're just watching now. They are negotiating with Glencore (International AG) and MG (Metallgesellschaft AG),"Sakamoto said. "The prices we hear are completely out of line with our evaluations," he added, without elaborating. Industry sources in Seoul said on Friday that the two European companies would submit offers to LG by September 18, which involve buying assets or a stake in LG Metals. Swiss-based metals group Glencore confirmed it was in talks with LG Metals to buy the metals assets of the South Korean company. Glencore would not confirm what the sources said was a $1billion price tag for LG's Onsan plants.

Shanghai copper futures end down: Shanghai copper futures ended lower across the board on Thursday in tandem with overnight losses on the London Metal Exchange (LME), traders said. The most active contract December 1998 ended at an intraday low of 16,780 yuan ($2,026) per tonne, falling 80 yuan from Wednesday's close. It opened at 16,790 and hit an intraday high of 16,830. LME three-months copper closed Wednesday's kerb at $1,673,down $10 from Tuesday after early attempts to push higher failed,traders said. They added sentiment in Shanghai was dented by the LME which failed to maintain its earlier upward momentum on producer selling. "There was a lack of follow-up buying (on the Shanghai market) to continue its Wednesday's rally due to the weak LME," a trader said. The October 1998 contract lost 40 to 16,260, November 70 to 16,490, January 1999 contract 70 to 17,090, February 70 to 17,300 and March 10 to 17,530. Volume fell sharply to 7,460 lots from 11,746 lots on Wednesday.

Savage zinc expansion to boost sales: Australia's Savage Resources Ltd said on Thursday it expects to boost annual revenue to at least A$750 million by around 2001 from A$358 million last year. The projection for higher revenue is based on additional income generated from a proposed expansion of zinc production at its Clarksville refinery in the US state of Tennessee to some 300,000 tonnes a year from 105,000 tonnes, Savage chairman Richard Austen said in the company's annual report. "Being in the centre of themarket that consumes the largest amount of zinc in the world, most of the output will be sold within an overnight delivery distance of the plant and will replace some of the 0.8 million (800,000) tonnes of zinc imported into the US each year, rather than compete with other US producers," Austen said. The expansion, costing an estimated US$400 million, is conditional on successful financing and other arrangements and is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2001, he said. Savage has appointed National Australia Bank Ltd as arranger of a $570 million finance facility to fund the expansion, refinance the 49 per cent-owned Ernest Henry copper/gold project's financing and to provide working capital. Savage zinc division executive officer David Rice earlier this week told Reuters a six-week-old strike at its Gordonsville zinc mine, which supplies about 5,000 tonnes of material to the refinery each month, was not having an impact on operations.

Malaysia tin slips: The Kuala Lumpur Tin Marketprice ended down 19 cents at 20.0 ringgit ($5.26) a kg on Thursday following a weaker performance on the London Metal Exchange (LME) overnight, traders said. "In the absence of fresh factors, the LME provided the only lead," said a trader. "But there was good support at the 20 ringgit level," he said, noting buying from European and Malaysian interests. Traders said the performance of the London market would continue to influence the tin price here. Volume was 40 tonnes, unchanged from Wednesday, while the local price premium over the LME narrowed to $75 a tonne from $90 previously, traders said.

Indonesia allocates October Minas: Indonesian state oil company Pertamina has increased slightly the October export allocations of its main heavy crude Minas, but cut the allocations of Duri and Widuri grades, traders said on Thursday. Pertamina allocated 43,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) of Minas for October, compared to 41,600 bpd for September, they said. But Duri volumes was cut by around half to 15,000 bpdfor October, from 31,400 bpd in September. "The Duri is a bit low, but Minas was within expectations,"said a trader.

Indonesian rubber falls: The Indonesian rubber market remained quiet on Thursday due to the absence of fresh market intervention by the International Natural Rubber Organisation (INRO), traders said. "INRO has abandoned the market, but I think this is will be temporary. There were numerous offers in the market but buyers showed no interest at all," said one trader in Jakarta. Traders said November tyre-grade SIR20 was being offered at 25.50 US cents/lb fob Palembang, Surabaya and Medan. October rubber was being offered in those cities at 25.50, December at 26.00 and January and 26.75. Traders said INRO had bought around 8,000 tonnes of rubber from Indonesia since last Tuesday for November shipment.

ICMF decries centres' announcement: The central government's announcement of exporting five lakh bales of cotton even before the commencement of the cotton season is "ill-timed",the Indian Cotton Mills Federation chairman, Sudhir Thackersey has said. The announcement was ill-timed especially when a proper assessment of the demand-supply situation was yet to be made, Thackersey said in a press release here on Thursday. No precise information on the crop size for the cotton season of 1998-99 was available even as reports were being received about damage to cotton crop in five districts of Punjab due to bollworm attack, he said. "The cotton textile industry is currently exposed to a very severe financial crisis and any increase in the prices of cotton following the announcement, will prove to be the last straw", he said. Meanwhile, the ICMF in a meeting with the chairman of Indian Banks Association (IBA) AT Pannir Selvam pleaded relaxation and uniformity in lending norms, reduction in lending rates to one per cent above the PLR (prime lending rate), moratorium of two-three years on servicing loans, advances against payment of bonus and voluntary retirement scheme and liberalisation ofbill discounting scheme.