Copper Climbs for First Day in Three as China Output Data Improves Outlook

Sep 13 (Bloomberg)--

Copper climbed for the first day in three after China’s industrial output grew at a faster rate than expected, boosting optimism that demand would expand in the world’s largest metals user. Aluminum, zinc and lead also gained.

The three-month contract on the London Metal Exchange rose as much as 1.9 percent to $7,630 a metric ton and traded at $7,608 at 9:57 a.m. in Singapore. Copper for December delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced for a second day, gaining as much as 1.5 percent to 59,660 yuan ($8,832) a ton.

"The economic data has improved the demand outlook in China and provided investors with fresh impetus to push prices higher,” Wu Tianmin, an analyst at BOC International Futures Ltd., said from Shanghai.

Production in China gained 13.9 percent in August from a year earlier, according to a statistics bureau report on Sept. 11, compared with the 13 percent median estimate of 29 economists. Imports also accelerated, adding to signs that Chinese growth is picking up even as government curbed credit growth and property speculation and closed energy-intensive and polluting factories.

In a separate release, China’s central bank reported new loans in August of 545.2 billion yuan ($80 billion), and a 19.2 percent increase in M2, the broadest measure of money supply. Both numbers were above economists’ estimates and the rebound in M2 growth was the first in nine months.

Copper dropped 16 percent in the three months to June 30, the worst quarterly performance since the period ending December 31, 2008, as Chinese authorities curbed loans for third-home purchases and raised mortgage rates in a series of announcements from mid-April to prevent asset bubbles. Since then, three-month copper has gained 17 percent to today’s high.

Aluminum in London gained 1.4 percent to $2,129.75 a ton, zinc climbed 2.5 percent to $2,163 a ton and lead increased 1.1 percent to $2,209.75 a ton. Nickel rose 0.9 percent to $22,700 a ton, while tin was little changed at $21,850 a ton.