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Copper prices advanced on Wednesday, as low stockpiles in exchange warehouses lent some support to the metal after sharp losses in recent weeks.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 rose 1.3% to $9,618 a tonne by 0633 GMT, having lost 8% since Oct. 18.
The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 advanced 1.4% to 70,940 yuan ($11,087.15) a tonne, following two straight weeks of declines.
“Looks like we’ve found a floor at the moment. There’s been enough days of dropping. There’s no harm starting to pick small positions,” a Singapore-based metals trader said.
“Inventories are still dwindling, so this downwards flat price momentum too has its limits.”
On-warrant LME copper inventories MCUSTX-TOTAL edged up to 31,675 tonnes, but still hovered near their lowest since 1998 of 14,150 tonnes hit on Oct. 14.
LME cash copper premium over the three-month contract MCU0-3 were at $275 a tonne, indicating tight nearby supplies.
ShFE copper stocks CU-STX-SGH rose for the first time in three weeks last week to 49,327 tonnes, but were still down some 80% from May.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME aluminium CMAL3 rose 1.2% to $2,725.50 a tonne, LME lead CMPB3 advanced 1.1% to $2,390 a tonne, ShFE aluminium SAFcv1 climbed 1.6% to 20,350 yuan a tonne and ShFE lead SPBcv1 increased 1.1% to 15,925 yuan a tonne.
* A rural community in Peru will likely lift its blockade of the country’s largest copper mine Antamina on Wednesday after protests forced miners to suspend operations, the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines said in a tweet.
* LME cash nickel was last at a $110-a-tonne premium over the three-month contract MNI0-3, suggesting tightness in nearby supplies, as inventories MNISTX-TOTAL fell to their lowest since December 2019 at 140,904 tonnes.