1.   -- Sumitomo denied a report in the Times of London that its former chief copper trader, Yasuo Hamanaka, is being held in a safe house in Japan.

2.   Copper traders said if there is enough raw material available to fuel the smelter operations, production could last longer than initially thought.

3.   Hamanaka was the head copper trader and a star at Sumitomo.

4.   He pointedly asked how the president of the company could not have known about the losses racked up by the chief copper trader.

5.   His statement confirmed speculation among world copper traders last week that Codelco was buying supplies.

6.   It attributed the losses to unauthorized trading by its former chief copper trader, Yasuo Hamanaka.

7.   It blamed the losses on a decade of unauthorized trading by its former chief copper trader, Yasuo Hamanaka.

8.   Sumitomo also plans to sue the former senior copper trader for betraying corporate interests, Kuroda said.

9.   Sumitomo blames the loss on a decade of unauthorized trading by its former chief copper trader, Yasuo Hamanaka.

10.   Speculation a South Korean company was struggling to secure copper that it previously agreed to deliver in February fueled the rise in the premium, copper traders said.