April 13 LME market: copper futures are boosted by industrial buying, but speculators remain cautious

(LME) copper prices on the London Metal Exchange rebounded on Tuesday, boosted by industrial buyers, but speculators remained cautious after China, a major consumer of metals, warned that it might control commodity prices.

17:00 London time (00:00 domestic time on April 14)), LME copper for delivery in three months rose 0.43 per cent, or $38.50, to settle at $8899.50 a tonne, after falling 0.7 per cent on Monday.

Copper prices have been stuck in a range below the nine-and-a-half-year high of $9617 a tonne hit at the end of February. The 2105 contract, the main force of copper futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, closed up 0.27% at 65870 yuan per ton.

Robin Bhar, an independent consultant, said: "the markets will be seasonally strong in the second quarter, the peak demand season in the northern hemisphere is approaching, and China has entered the construction season in an all-round way."

The rise in global commodity prices has led senior Chinese officials to stress the need to control commodity prices to reduce corporate costs and control inflation.

China's copper imports from January to March posted their strongest first-quarter performance since at least 2008, due to rising demand and easing logistics problems, according to the data. The news brought support to the market.

"I think between the current price and $8800 is a point worth buying low," said a metals trader in Singapore. "

Copper inventories at LME registered warehouses have more than doubled since early March to 168500 tonnes, the highest since November 9, while copper inventories in warehouses tracked by the Shanghai Futures Exchange have been hovering near 11-month highs.

According to the output statistics of 20 domestic smelters (involving refined tin production capacity of nearly 320000 tons, with a total capacity coverage of 97%), the total refined tin output of the above-mentioned enterprises was 14291 tons in March 2021, an increase of 19.3% compared with the previous month.