* Signs of emerging copper demand supporting prices -UBS
* U.S. markets closed for Labor Day holiday
* Glencore to remove 400,000 T of output over 18 months
(Updates with closing prices)
By Eric Onstad
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Copper gained on Monday after
commodities group Glencore GLEN.L announced plans to shut down
loss-making mines to help to reduce a glut of supply that has
weighed on prices.
Bearish investors scrambled to close out positions by buying
futures, but analysts said it was uncertain whether Glencore's
move to close some African copper operations for 18 months would
create a trend.
"It's probably not enough to see prices go up
(substantially), but it certainly supports the market," said
Grant Sporre, head of metals research at Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) in
London. "It also ensures that copper is probably not going to
fall in the same way that iron ore and met (metallurgical) coal
have done."
Sporre had forecast a global copper supply/demand surplus of
350,000 tonnes for next year and said that Glencore's move would
bring the market close to balance, given that it is expected to
remove 300,000 tonnes in 2016.
Glencore's mine closures, which were due to remove 400,000
tonnes of copper cathode from the market over 18 months, were
part of a wider initiative that included the suspension of
dividends, asset sales and a $2.5 billion share issue as it
seeks to cut debt. ID:nL5N11D0O4
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3
failed to trade in closing open outcry activity amid thin
volumes, with U.S. markets closed for the Labor Day holiday.
Copper was last bid at $5,148 a tonne, up 0.6 percent from
Friday's close.
There have been signs of a pick-up in copper demand from
mainland China, UBS analyst Dan Morgan said.
"Merchant premia in China have lifted quite strongly which,
with prices being relatively cheaper now, suggests we might see
a little bit of a lift in copper imports."
But technical analyst Cliff Green, who examines charts to
identify future trends, said the current rally was probably
temporary after lifting copper from a six-year low of $4,855
last month.
"There is no evidence at this stage that the bear cycle (in
copper) is over and my targets in the $4,700 and even $4,400
areas are still readable," he told the Reuters Global Base Metal
Forum.
Most other LME metals were weaker ahead of forthcoming
Chinese economic data that analysts say could point to further
economic weakness.
Zinc CMZN3 shed 0.7 percent to close at $1,772 a tonne,
nickel CMNI3 was down 1.5 percent at $9,750 and tin CMSN3
fell 0.7 percent to $14,925.
Lead CMPB3 bucked the weaker trend and added 0.2 percent
to $1,668 a tonne while aluminium CMAL3 , untraded in closing
rings, was bid down 0.5 percent to $1,600.
PRICES
Three month LME copper CMCU3
Most active ShFE copper SCFcv1
Three month LME aluminium CMAL3
Most active ShFE aluminium SAFcv1
Three month LME zinc CMZN3
Most active ShFE zinc SZNcv1
Three month LME lead CMPB3
Most active ShFE lead SPBcv1
Three month LME nickel CMNI3
Most active ShFE nickel SNIcv1
Three month LME tin CMSN3
Most active ShFE tin SSNcv1
($1 = 6.3675 Chinese yuan)