Copper gains on solid China data, lower inventory

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SINGAPORE - Copper prices rose on Monday, after data from China showed higher unwrought copper imports in March, while declining inventory and concerns over supply deficit also lent support.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.4 percent to $6,510.50 a tonne by 0226 GMT, while the most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 0.8 percent to 49,610 yuan ($7,397.19) a tonne.

China imported 391,000 tonnes of unwrought copper last month, up 25.7 percent from the previous month and 26.5 percent higher than a year earlier, data released on Friday showed.

China's March copper ores and concentrates imports were also higher than the year-ago levels, at 1.77 million tonnes, but down from an unusually strong February.

"This squashed any concerns over soft demand post the Chinese New Year holiday. Sentiment was further boosted by strong credit and monetary data," ANZ said in a note.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Copper stocks in LME-approved warehouses were down 2,000 tonnes on April 11 compared with the previous day, while copper inventories in warehouses tracked by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 5 percent from a week ago to 245,178 tonnes on Friday, latest data showed.

* Chinese miner MMG Ltd said that Las Bambas mine in Peru has progressively restored critical supplies and increased staffing levels over last week after indigenous communities ended a more than two-month blockade of a key highway.

* Rio Tinto Ltd said it would invest an extra $302 million to develop its Resolution copper project in the U.S. state of Arizona, as it looks to expands output to meet the lucrative market for new energy vehicles.

* Copper will face more disruptions this year than in 2018, as labour strife, extreme weather and unexpected project delays will knock as much as a million tonnes off 2019 production, Chilean miner Antofagasta chief executive said.

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MARKETS NEWS

* Asian shares started on a firm footing and the dollar eased as risk appetite was whetted by better-than-expected data from China that helped boost confidence about the health of the world economy.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0200 Indonesia Trade Balance March

0630 India WPI Inflation YY March

1000 EU Reserve Assets Total March

PRICES

Three month LME copper

Most active ShFE copper

Three month LME aluminium

Most active ShFE aluminium

Three month LME zinc

Most active ShFE zinc

Three month LME lead