SHANGHAI, Mar 20, 2011 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) -- The Shanghai Futures Exchange had 30,104 metric tons of copper at bonded warehouses as of Friday, boosting the bourse's inventory by 12% from a week earlier, it said in a statement.

Total copper stocks at SHFE registered warehouses reached 177,365 tons, it said.

This is the first time that SHFE has unveiled the amount of copper at selected bonded warehouses since it started accepting warrants March 16 for a pilot program that allows bonded commodities to be registered under warrant.

Under the program, commodities which have been shipped into bonded warehouses in Shanghai without paying a 17% value-added tax will become eligible for delivery against SHFE contracts. Copper and aluminum were the metals selected for the trial program, and the exchange appointed two warehouses in Yangshan Port in Shanghai.

No bonded aluminum was reported in the statement.