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Copper Futures Gain in New York as Strikes Threaten Supplies

By Millie Munshi

June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Copper futures rose to a one-month high in New York as miners threatened strikes in major producers including Chile, the world's biggest source of the metal.

Contract workers at Codelco, the world's biggest copper producer, plan to walk off the job on June 20 and employees at the company's largest division may set up blockades to pressure management to boost bonuses. Copper rose to a record in May 2006, partly because labor unrest disrupted supplies.

``The strike threats are obviously something to watch,'' said Patrick Chidley, an analyst at Barnard Jacobs Mellet LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. ``They may be making people cautious.''

Copper futures for September delivery gained 5.75 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $3.479 a pound at 10:59 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the metal touched $3.517 a pound, the highest since May 16.

The metal gained 5 percent last week, the most in seven weeks, as strike threats raised supply concerns. Miners have increased salary demands as the price of copper has surged fourfold in the past four years, boosting profit for companies including Chile's state-owned Codelco.

It isn't ``uncommon'' to see increased labor unrest when metals prices rise, Catherine Virga, an analyst at CPM Group Inc. in New York, said last week.

Workers at Southern Copper Corp., the world's fifth-largest producer of the metal, voted to strike to pressure management for higher wages, a union official said last week. Three of the company's eight Peruvian unions voted to strike on June 23. A strike would be the second in two months.

Talks Stalled

Talks have stalled between management and workers at Dona Ines de Collahuasi, Chile's third-largest copper mine, owned by Xstrata Plc and Anglo American Plc. Management on June 8 rejected a demand by workers for a new wage proposal before negotiations resume.

Xstrata, the world's fourth-largest copper producer, is also being affected by a strike that began June 11 at a refinery in Montreal. The company said the job action will disrupt delivery of the metal from the refinery, which accounted for 2 percent of world supply last year.

Traders will also be watching a report on the U.S. housing industry to be released at 1 p.m. in Washington today, Chidley said.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of homebuilder sentiment may hold at 30 for a second consecutive month, economists predicted in a Bloomberg survey. The gauge hasn't been lower since February 1991. A reading below 50 means most respondents view conditions as poor.

Copper fell 17 percent in the fourth-quarter of 2006 as a housing slump cut demand from builders, the largest users of the metal in the U.S.

China's Imports

The metal has gained 21 percent this year as imports rose to record levels in China, the world's biggest copper user.

Copper is ``heavily influenced by Chinese buying,'' Richard Adkerson, chief executive officer of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. said last week. ``There are lots of questions about where it will be for the rest of the year.''

On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months gained $112, or 1.5 percent, to $7,612 a metric ton. The metal rose to a record $8,800 a ton on May 11, 2006.

The record high for futures on the Comex is $4.04 a pound, also set on May 11, 2006.

A futures contract is an obligation to buy or sell a commodity at fixed price for delivery by a specific date.