Copper prices rose to two-month highs on Tuesday, buoyed by supply concerns in Peru and Panama amid protests and planned maintenance, while a weaker US dollar also lent support.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.3% to $8,459 per metric ton by 0149 GMT, having leaped to $8,459 earlier in the session, the highest since Sept. 15.
The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 1% to 68,550 yuan ($9,506.18) a ton, the highest since Sept. 21.
Workers at Las Bambas copper mine in Peru will kick off an “indefinite” strike from next week, and First Quantum Minerals will carry out maintenance at its Cobre Panama mine from Nov. 23 due to coal supplies being blocked by protesters.
The dollar index hit its lowest since Sept. 1 on expectation that US interest rates would fall next year, making greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies.
LME aluminium rose 0.5% to $2,256 a ton, nickel edged up 0.3% at $17,000, zinc advanced 1% to $2,588, lead was up 0.5% at $2,286.50 and tin increased 0.8% to $25,070.
China demand hopes drive copper to two-month peak
SHFE aluminium increased 0.5% to 19,030 yuan a ton, zinc was up 0.7% at 21,520 yuan, while lead fell 0.7% to 16,990 yuan and tin shed 0.4% to 209,220 yuan. SHFE nickel hit a 14-month low of 133,030 yuan a ton.
The contract is down 33% so far this year, the worst performer across all base metals on the SHFE due to oversupply concerns.
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