LONDON: Copper prices in London hit their highest in more than 14 months on Monday, helped by demand from momentum-following funds, strong German industrial data and a rally in other commodities. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.9% to $9,415 a metric ton in official open-outcry trading after hitting $9,450 for its highest level since January last year.
Aluminium reached its highest since February 2023 at $2,465.25 and was up 0.5% at $2,461.5 in official activity.
Industrial metals also rallied in Shanghai. Copper, which is used widely in the power and construction industries, hit record highs as it caught up with last week’s London gains after China’s Thursday-Friday trading break.
“Overnight strength in Shanghai has been carried over to the European session with rising optimism from today’s growth in German industrial production supporting demand from momentum traders driving fresh speculative longs,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
Germany’s February industrial production rose by 2.1% from the previous month thanks to a strong performance from the construction industry. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 0.3% rise. The most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) closed daytime trade 2.6% higher, while aluminium was up 1.6%. Copper prices in London rose by 5.2% last week on strong manufacturing data from top metals consumer China, hopes for cuts to interest rates in the United States and Europe as well as elevated sentiment towards other commodities.
“There is continued fund money coming into commodities at the moment,” one metals trader said. Spot gold prices hit a record peak for a seventh consecutive session on Monday.
Meanwhile, the discount for LME cash copper over the benchmark three-month contract remains at a record high, indicating plenty of copper available for immediate supply. The discount was last at $127 on Monday.
In other metals, LME zinc rose 0.9% to $2,662.5 a ton, lead was up 0.6% at $2,136, tin climbed by 2.0% to $29,375 and nickel added 0.4% to $17,870.
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