Copper heads for a weekly gain on mine supply risks, China demand
USO•Copper prices were on track for a 1.5% weekly gain, supported by mine supply risks, active demand in China and tight inventories outside the United States. LME three-month copper rose 1.2% to $14,473.50 a metric ton.
1. Prices and inventories
LME three-month copper was up 1.2% at $14,473.50 a metric ton by 0948 GMT on Friday. The Yangshan copper premium, a gauge of China's appetite for imported copper, ended the week at $135 a ton, its highest in four years. Shanghai exchange-monitored inventories rose 20,000 tons from end-September to 58,744 tons, while LME-registered stocks fell to a six-week low of 233,025 tons.
2. Supply risks persist
Comex copper inventories stood at a record 711,609 tons amid transfers of metal to U.S. warehouses over uncertainty about potential import tariffs on refined copper. The LME cash contract ended Thursday at a $97-a-ton premium to the three-month contract. A union at Antofagasta's Centinela mine in Chile said its ongoing strike would begin to weigh on output in November.
