Copper rises on strong China demand

The gains marked a rebound after a brief pullback in a broader rally over recent months. Prices had drawn support from concerns that a possible US tariff on refined copper imports would pull more metal into US warehouses.

Copper hit a record high of $14,875 a ton on September 10 on tight supply outside the United States, before easing after a report said the White House had yet to decide on the tariff.

Among LME metals, aluminium CMAL3 rose 0.34%, zinc CMZN3 gained 0.27%, lead CMPB3 was little changed, nickel CMNI3 advanced 0.63% and tin CMSN3 climbed 0.62%.

On the SHFE, aluminium SAFcv1 was little changed, zinc SZNcv1 was steady, lead SPBcv1 added 0.34%, nickel SNIcv1 gained 0.79% and tin SSNcv1 climbed 0.94%.

Copper prices rose on Tuesday, as strong demand in top consumer China pushed the metal back towards its record high.

Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.61% at $14,750.5 a metric ton by 0300 GMT, rising for a sixth straight session.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 jumped 1.56% to 111,670 yuan ($16,675.88) a ton, also helped by renewed speculative support.

The Yangshan copper premium SMM-CUYP-CN, a gauge of Chinese appetite for imported copper, fell to $119 a ton on Monday, but was still 65% above the start of the month.

Available copper stocks in LME-registered warehouses MCUSTX-TOTAL fell to 133,725 tons on Monday, daily LME data showed, after 9,600 tons of fresh cancellations in Asia.