On the London Metal Exchange (LME) prices ended at $8,090 a tonne, up $210 or 2.7 per cent from last Tuesday, having set highs of $8,130.

Analyst Maqsood Ahmed of LME ring dealer Credit Lyonnais Rouse said gains were partly options-related, while also reflecting fresh buying by investment funds. Also, many participants had been caught short.

"They never thought it would get this high, they have been selling from around $7,700 and saw the market go against them...they have been forced to cut their losses and that triggered panic buying which pushed the market higher," he said.

Nickel has strong fundamentals, including growing demand for stainless steel and suspicions that new low-cost Australian laterites-based production may be slow to develop fully, while total LME warehouse inventories have fallen to 47,556 tonnes, and were down byy more than 27 per cent this year.

Antimony at lowest since 1972
In the world of strategic minerals, the price of antimony dropped to around $1,100 a tonne, the lowest since 1972, due to persistent offers from major producer China.

Prices have fallen from 1999 highs of around $1,400, but over the decade the fall has been much steeper--five years ago antimony was near $6,000 a tonne. Antimony is used in speciality chemical applications such as flame retardents and polymer stabilisers.

Despite talk from the Chinese authorities of export controls and a smuggling crackdown, plenty of metal was available either on the water or in Rotterdam warehouses, traders added. "China say one thing and then go away and do exactly the opposite," one trader said.

Cocoa falls, sugar edges higher
On the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE) there were mixed fortunes for agricultural commodities.

Cocoa futures ended on Wednesday near new a seven-and-a-half year low reached in the morning session, as long liquidation and selling by West African producers, the trade and speculators kept prices under pressure.

"We're going to keep heading down--550 won't be a problem and my long-term target is less than 500 pounds," one trader said.

But in sugar, market prices edged higher, ignoring a large export programme release by the European Union (EU).

The EU export tender award of 1,37,100 tonnes, the largest quantity so far in the 1999/2000 (Aug/July) export campaign and above trade forecasts of between 1,00,000 and 1,20,000 tonnes, had little market impact.

The maximum export rebate of 51.91 euros per 100 kilos, well below the forecast 52.10 euros and the EU limit of around 52.25 euros, reflected aggressive bidding from licences especially from Belgian traders who were granted 77,000 tonnes.