Copper steady ahead of Chile strike talks, nickel gains
By Maytaal Angel
LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Copper prices were steady on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's upbeat assessment of the outlook for the U.S. economy, while nickel rose on supply disruptions in the Philippines.
Yellen signalled a faster pace of U.S. interest rate increases on Tuesday, helping to drive world stocks to 21-month peaks on Wednesday.
However, copper could come under pressure if workers at the world's largest copper mine in Chile reach an early deal when they resume talks on Wednesday with BHP Billiton after a six-day stoppage.
"The market has certainly digested all the supply news for now and is probably in a wait and see mode," said Caroline Bain, senior commodities economist at Capital Economics.
"We expect prices to ease back (this year), there's too much optimism about (U.S. and China) demand priced in, but a lot depends on the supply front and that's a bit of an unknown."
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange edged up 0.2 percent to $6,035.50 a tonne by 1124 GMT, after BHP Billiton's force majeure on Escondida shipments sent prices to their highest since May 2015 on Monday.
Copper fell back on Tuesday however, even as Freeport-McMoRan Inc halted production of concentrate at Grasberg in Indonesia, the world's second-largest copper mine, in a long-running dispute over investment guarantees.
Asia's copper industry has so far not been disturbed by output disruptions in Indonesia and Chile because it is sitting on metal stockpiles that have grown by nearly two-thirds since the end of January.
Nickel rose 0.5 percent to $10,820, not far from its highest since mid-December, buoyed by supply disruptions in the Philippines, the world's top nickel exporter.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday supported his environment minister's decision to cancel nearly a third of contracts for undeveloped mines.
Premiums for nickel in Shanghai bonded zones rose by $15 to $180 <0#BASEBW-SHMET> this week, the highest since last August, as the price differential between Shanghai and LME turned attractive for imports.
China's nickel inventories are near the lowest since May , while port ore stocks are 1.07 million tonnes, the least since 2011.
PRICES
Three month LME copper
Most active ShFE copper
Three month LME aluminium
Most active ShFE aluminium
Three month LME zinc
Most active ShFE zinc
Three month LME lead
Most active ShFE lead
Three month LME nickel
Most active ShFE nickel
Three month LME tin
Most active ShFE tin
($1 = 6.8694 Chinese yuan) ($1 = 6.8696 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Additional reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Alexander Smith)