LME MIDDAY

LONDON (Dow Jones)--London Metal Exchange tin hits a new record high Thursday morning amidst a general bullish tone across all base metals, with further upside expected when the U.S. enters the market, said traders.
Tin prices jumped to $13,000 a metric ton on consumer buying and a lack of selling amid very illiquid conditions, according to an LME trader. At 1130 GMT, three-month tin traded at $12,900/ton.
Uncertainty over key producers Indonesia and Bolivia continues to provide underlying price support.
Indonesia recently shutdown its private mining and smelting operations on Bangka island, where the country's largest tin reserve is located.
Indonesia's PT Koba Tin - a key industry player - declared force majeure on its tin shipments Monday, after police arrested three senior officials Saturday and sealed the company's warehouses and an accounting section in Bangka-Belitung province.
The company said it is still allowed to mine and smelt tin from Bangka-Belitung while it is under police investigation.
Meanwhile, uncertainty over the fate of Bolivia's Vinto smelter since it was seized from Switzerland's Glencore International AG and renationalized adds to upside price momentum, an LME broker noted.
Glencore recently demanded compensation from Bolivia's government for nationalizing its tin smelter as part of President Evo Morales' declared ambition to gain greater control of the country's mineral wealth and refineries.
Since the start of the year, the smaller liquidity metal has climbed roughly 33% while stocks have decreased roughly 20%.
In other metals, three-month nickel surged to $38,400/ton at 1130 GMT, up over 2% from Wednesday triggered by a large cancelation in warrants.
Canceled warrants - or material accounted for and to be drawn down at a later date - maintained its recently large figure at 52% Thursday following Wednesday's 54%, leaving less than one day's worth of world nickel consumption.
Meanwhile, three-month aluminum rose roughly 1% to $2,852/ton at 1130 GMT amid steady technical buying as political uncertainty in Guinea continued. Guinea is a leading producer of bauxite, an essential component in producing aluminum.
Guinean President Lansana Conte has imposed martial law until Feb. 23 after days of violent protests. The demonstrations were triggered over the weekend following Conte's appointment of a close ally from his Cabinet as prime minister, a move the opposition said sidestepped a power-sharing agreement.
However, an increase in aluminum stocks by 3,725 tons to 762,775 tons Thursday capped the upside momentum. Aluminum inventories have climbed roughly 10% since the start of 2007.
Three-month copper traded at $5,840/ton at 1130 GMT, up 2% from Wednesday following momentum seen in overnight trading.
"In Asian trading on Thursday copper posted a decent bounce as traders covered short positions ahead of Chinese New Year although volumes were not really impressive," said John Reade of UBS.