At yesterday's opening bell, there were only 5,254 tons of copper at the exchange's licensed warehouses.

At last count, about 5,800 tons of copper in Comex licensed warehouses underlay about 7,000 December contracts still outstanding.

Those who had sold copper short were stunned when the exchange reported that the amount of copper in licensed warehouses had plunged by 1,896 tons, or 24 percent, to 5,957 tons, as of Tuesday morning.

Around 12 December 1981, a company called Szetoh Import & Export Pte. Ltd. removed a large quantity of cigarettes from a licensed warehouse and transported them to the port for loading on to a vessel called the M.V. Sempurna Sejati to be exported out of the country.