MARKET U[PDATE

MARKET UPDATE FOR 21 AUGUST

U.S. copper futures ended over 4 percent higher

on Thursday as a weaker American currency raised

the appeal of dollar-priced commodities as hedges

against inflation, dealers said.


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MARKET UPDATE

MARKET UPDATE 9 PM AUGUST 21

Copper for September delivery HGU8 surged 11.55 cents or

3.4 percent at $3.5145 a lb by 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on

the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, its

highest level since Aug. 4, and near its morning peak at $3.5180.


* COMEX estimated futures volume at 9,798 lots by 10:00 a.m.

* "It's the usual suspects this morning -- the dollar and energies."

- Frank Lesh, broker and futures analyst with Future Path

Trading in Chicago.

* The dollar fell across the board as worries mounted over the

health of the U.S. financial sector.

* The U.S. dollar index .DXY, a gauge of its value against

a basket of six major currencies, was on track to post its

worst one-day fall in two months.

* The euro was up 0.6 percent versus the dollar at $1.4834 .

NICKEL UPDATE

NICKEL UPDATE 21 AUGUST

Xstrata PLC said yesterday it has suspended its Falcondo

ferronickel operations in the Dominican Republic after costs

surged and metal prices plunged.

The suspension may last four months, said Zug, Switzerland-

based Xstrata.

The operations produce 29,000 tonnes of nickel a year, equal

to about 2 per cent of world primary nickel production.

Russia's Industrial Metallurgical also reduced output of the

metal by as much as 40 per cent. Nickel rose as much as 4.4

per cent in London.

"The resumption of activities will be assessed based on market

conditions, which are expected to improve towards the end

of 2008," Ian Pearce, chief executive officer of Xstrata's

nickel unit, said in a statement.

The cuts follow lost output this year from labour disputes

and disruptions in Australia and South America. Nickel

supply may match demand in 2008, instead of reaching

a surplus as previously expected, London-based metals

research company CRU said. There was a 96,000 tonne

surplus last year.

Falcondo produces ferronickel, a combination of iron and nickel

used by stainless-steel producers.

Moscow-based Industrial Metallurgical Holding, which produces

about 5 per cent of Russia's total output of the steel-making

ingredient, said present nickel prices make current production

volume unprofitable.

Its cuts are indefinite and the volume will be restored

when prices rise.

MARKET UPDATE

MARKET UPDATE AT 5.30 PM ON 21 AUGUST

- Tin jumped more than 5 percent on expectations that supply

from Indonesia, the world's second-largest tin producer after

China, will decline, traders said.

Tin for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange

rose to $21,550 a tonne from a last quote of $20,500/20,505

on Wednesday.

Consultancy ITRI said the global tin supply deficit was forecast

to reach up to 20,000 tonnes in 2008 due to falling supplies from

Indonesia, revising up an earlier estimate of 12,000 tonnes.

MARKET UPDATE

MARKET UPDATE AT 5 PM ON 21 AUGUST

Copper rose in London, buoyed by a weaker dollar and signs

that China, the world's largest user of the metal, may

increase purchases.

Copper stockpiles earmarked for delivery out of London Metal

Exchange-registered warehouses in South Korea, next to China,

more than tripled to 9,025 metric tons, the exchange said today.

The dollar weakened against the yen and the euro, making

metals cheaper for holders of other currencies.

``There's a growing feeling that the Chinese are ready to

enter the market,'' Daniel Hynes, an analyst at Merrill

Lynch & Co., said today by phone. A jump in canceled

stockpiles ``certainly is showing that demand is going

to pick up.''

Copper for delivery in three months advanced $150, or 2 percent,

to $7,665 a ton as of 9:24 a.m. local time, paring this quarter's

loss to 9.9 percent.

The LME index of 6 industrial metals has lost 11 percent since

the end of June on concern that weakening economies in Europe

and the U.S. may trim demand for metals. Price declines in

nickel, zinc and tin obliged producers to limit or curb output.

MARKET UPDATE

LME INVENTORY UPDATEAT 1.30 PM

ON 21AUGUST, 2008.

COPPER UP 400TONS, ZINC DOWN 450,

ALLUMINIUM UP 8350, NICKELUP 558,

LEAD UP1325, TIN DOWN 345.

LME NER CANCELLED WARRANTS-COPPER UP 5175,

ZINC DOWN 350, ALLUMINIUM UP 500,NICKEL

UP 114, LEAD UP 1075, TIN DOWN 350.

MARKET UPDATE

MARKET UPDATE FOR 20 AUGUST, 2008

U.S. copper futures ended lower on Wednesday in sympathy with

a negative reversal in crude oil and under pressure from renewed

strength in the U.S. dollar, traders said.

* Copper for September delivery HGU8 settled down 3.15

cents at $3.3970 a lb on the New York Mercantile

Exchange's COMEX division.




* The session range ran from $3.3605 to $3.4845, the contract's

loftiest level since Aug. 4.
*
Technicians see initial resistance in September copper at $3.45,

followed by $3.4750, and then $3.50. Support seen at around

$3.25 and then at last week's low at $3.2185.

* COMEX estimated final futures volume at 18,201 lots, down

from Tuesday's final count at 28,631 lots.

* Open interest fell by 285 lots to 94,900 open contracts

as of Aug. 19.

* Copper relinquishes its early bullish momentum in tandem

with the crude oil, which turned lower after weekly

inventory data showed a larger-than-expected build

in crude stocks