LONDON: Copper rose 1 percent on Monday, buoyed mostly by supply disruptions after workers at Peru's top copper miner downed tools indefinitely late last week.
Workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Cerro Verde in Peru started an indefinite strike on Friday that halted output of about 40,000 tonnes per month.
This added to supply disruptions caused by a month-long stoppage at BHP Billiton's Escondida mine in Chile and Freeport's Grasberg mine in Indonesia.
"Fundamentals are positive for base metals and for copper. Both if you look at the trend in mining production and the short term disruptions adding some support," said Danske commodities analyst Jens Pedersen.
Base metals, however, are unlikely to rise much further ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting this week, Pedersen said, as expectations of a rate increase will push up the dollar, making metals more expensive for investors holding other currencies.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 1.1 percent at $5,794 a tonne in official trading rings.
The metal lost 3.1 percent last week, the most since December, partly on a stronger dollar as expectations rose that the US Federal Reserve will announce a rate rise at the end of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.
Other commodities also suffered their biggest weekly declines in months last week after recent rallies showed signs of petering out, pressured by a glut and tepid demand from top consumer China.
BMI Research said it raised its 2017 copper price forecast to $5,500 from $5,150 on solid Chinese demand growth and supply disruption concerns.
The union at BHP's Escondida mine, the world's largest, rejected BHP's offer to return to the negotiating table on Saturday, and called on the company to clarify its negotiating positions.
Zinc jumped 1.6 percent to $2,757 a tonne in official trading. Aluminium gained 0.7 percent to $1,894.50 per tonne.
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