Market and product

Copper advanced for the first timethis week, paring a monthly drop, on concern that mine supplieswill decline from Indonesia and stockpiles continued shrinking.

The contract for delivery in three months on the LondonMetal Exchange added as much as 0.4 percent to $7,049.25 ametric ton and traded at $7,046.75 by 10:27 a.m. in Tokyo. Themetal touched $6,993.50 yesterday, the lowest price since Dec.4. Today’s gain pared losses this month to 0.3 percent.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. may have to declareforce majeure for concentrate sales from its Grasberg mine inIndonesia, the world’s second largest copper mine, because ofnew rules on mineral exports. Force majeure is a legal clausethat allows companies to miss deliveries because ofcircumstances beyond their control. Inventories are at the leastin 14 months, dropping for a 30th day to 274,350 tons yesterday,LME data showed.

“The market was focusing on fundamentals, dwindlingstockpiles and mine supply concerns from Indonesia,” said Hwang Il Doo, a senior trader at Korea Exchange Bank Futures Co. in Seol.

Freeport may also consider constraining operating costs,deferring capital spending and cutting workers, if it’s unableto resume normal operations over an extended period, thePhoenix-based company said in a filing yesterday. Freeport’sIndonesian unit still hadn’t received export permits by Feb.24., Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson said that day in apresentation at a mining conference in Florida.

The metal for delivery in May on the Shanghai FuturesExchange climbed 0.3 percent to 49,370 yuan ($8,057) a ton. Thecontract for May delivery on the Comex in New York gained 0.3percent to $3.209 a pound.

On the LME, zinc also rose, while aluminum, lead and nickelwere little changed. Tin hadn’t traded.