Copper prices fell slightly Thursday, retreating after hitting a record on supply concerns fed by a labor strike in Chile, the world's largest producer. Other commodities traded mostly lower, with crude oil falling back from a new record above $115 and gold and silver also declining. Contract workers at Chile's state-owned copper giant Codelco went on strike Wednesday, alleging the company reneged on an agreement that ended a monthlong strike last year. The stoppage, which continued Thursday, has halted operations at two of Codelco's five mines ? the Andina and El Salvador. Codelco said the protests posed a threat to other workers who didn't join the strike.
See "Copper futures jump to contract high on Chile strike, then retreat; oil briefly hits record", Stevenson Jacobs, Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 16, 2008