Greek rescue mission lifts metal prices

BEIJING (Commodity Online): With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union chipping in to rescue Greece from the financial mess by announcing schemes worth billions of dollars, the biggest beneficiary is metal market.

Riding on the rescue package worth around $670 billion, base metals like copper, which is used majorly in construction industry, have rebounded strongly this week.

European Union finance ministers, central bankers and the International Monetary Fund unleashed the emergency package to stabilise financial markets and prevent the Greek debt crisis from destroying the euro currency.

Following this, LME nickel rose 4% to $23,450 a tonne, and aluminium rose 3% to $2,140.

Panic prevailed in the market last week, sending London copper prices down 7%, aluminium down 8% and the complex leader nickel down 14%.

China's copper imports in April also fell about 4% from a month earlier to 436,345 tonnes, while copper scrap imports rose 1% on the month to 370,000 tonnes following Beijing's decision to rein in realty sector by barrign people from buying a third house.

Some traders said the metals market will continue to be on policy watch to assess downstream demand for metals such as those used in air conditioning units.

In fact, the metals market got a boost from the Greek package. Panic engulfed metals markets last week, when benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange fell to $6 632,75 a tonne, its lowest since early February.