The Bull Is Ranging Into Metals,Too

摘要

Blame it on china. With newly affluent Chinese women clamoring for platinum jewelry and local I manufacturers demand-ing copper, nickel, and other industrial metals on global markets, prices for a wide swath of commodities are soaring. Tight supplies because of past underinvestment in mines, a weak dollar, and a pickup in demand in China and elsewhere are all driving the trend. Says Paul L. Kasriel, chief economist at Northern Trust Corp.: "I believe we're in the early stages of a significant bull market in commodities." Though the surge in the prices of metals-far outstripping modest rises in oil and gas, grains, and other commodities-hasn't yet kick-started inflation, the hikes are a big headache for some American manufacturers. Because a full-bore U.S. economic recovery hasn't yet materialized, manufacturers who try to pass along the price increases are finding that they have to absorb most of them. Says M. Brian O'Shaughnessy, chief executive officer of Revere Copper Products Inc., a Rome (N.Y.) maker of copper sheet strip and coil products: "We have to keep our customers competitive with imports."