Eroding supply sparks demand.

Byline: From Register-Guard news service reports

Commodity prices surged to a 24-year high, led by gains in copper and crude oil, on concern that global economic growth is eroding inventories of raw materials faster than supplies can be replenished.

Copper reached a 16-year high, and oil rose to a near record level in New York, extending the rally in the Reuters-CRB Index of 17 commodities to the highest since January 1981.

Crude prices briefly surpassed $55 a barrel before settling at $54.59 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline prices probably will jump an additional 15 cents this spring and remain well above $2 a gallon through the heavy driving season, forecasters say.

Crude prices probably will remain ``near the high- to mid-$40'' a barrel range well into 2006, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said Tuesday.

The Reuters-CRB Index gained 7.1 percent in February, the most in any month since August 1983.

It rose 3.28 to 312.65, the eighth straight gain. Commodity prices are up 15 percent in the past year, in part because of rising demand and a decline in the dollar, which makes commodities priced in the U.S. currency cheaper for buyers using the euro or yen.

Copper futures for May delivery rose 0.3 cent, or 0.2 percent, to $1.4995 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since March 1989. Prices are up 16 percent in the past year and reached a record in London.

The commodity rally spurred gains in the currencies of countries that produce raw materials such as oil, metals and grain. The Australian and South African currencies surged against the U.S. dollar, and New Zealand's dollar climbed to a record.

Canada's dollar rose the most in eight weeks and its Australian counterpart approached 80 cents for the first time in more than a year. Commodities comprise 35 percent of Canada's exports and about 60 percent of Australia's overseas sales.

``It's one of those days when commodity prices are flying and currencies like the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar are benefiting,'' said Adam Cole, a currency strategist in London at RBC Capital Markets Ltd., a unit of Canada's largest lender.

Energy and metals prices ``are moving higher today on the continued concerns regarding the pace of global consumption and the ability of supply to keep up,'' said Michael Guido, director of hedge-fund marketing and commodity strategy in New York at Paris-based Societe Generale SA.

Oil rose on speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps about 40 percent of the world's oil, will do little to rein in prices when members meet in Iran on March 16.