Copper near 8-month high on deferred US tariff hikes

LONDON: Copper prices jumped to their highest in nearly eight months on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would delay an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods and as inventories of the metal slid.

Trump said on Sunday talks to end the months-long U.S.-China trade dispute had been productive and that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would meet to seal a deal if progress continued.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) added 0.5 percent to $6,504 per tonne by 1205 GMT, its highest since July 4. It earlier hit a session peak of 6,540 per tonne.

"For copper, it's the hopes about easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China and we saw further evidence over the weekend that this is happening," said Julius Baer commodities research analyst Carsten Menke.

He added that sentiment was also boosted by positive credit data even though it would not directly impact copper demand.

STOCKS: On-warrant LME copper inventories available to the market fell 6,350 tonnes to 33,450, the lowest since August 2005.

COPPER BALANCE: The global refined copper market showed a 52,000 tonne deficit in November, compared with a 1,000 tonne surplus in October, the International Copper Study Group said.

Supply shortage concerns, a stronger Chinese currency and looser credit conditions have boosted sentiment in copper, said Saxo Bank head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen.

CHINA IMPORTS: China imports of copper scrap fell 11.5 percent to 180,000 tonnes in January compared with the same period a year ago.

It was the first month that imports of 32 extra types of solid waste, including lower-grade scrap copper, were banned as part of China's crackdown on foreign garbage.

CHINA PREMIUMS: Import premiums for physical copper in China slipped to as low as $52 a tonne, the lowest since May 2017.

PERU: Chinese miner MMG Ltd said it will have to delay some shipments of copper concentrate from Peru's Matarani Port due to a blockade by an indigenous community of a road used to transport copper from the Las Bambas mine.

TIN: A unit of Inner Mongolia Xingye Mining halted production following an accident at a mine on Saturday that killed 21 people.

The unit produces tin, silver and copper, a statement said, while state-run news agency Xinhua said the mine also produced lead and zinc.

Tin rose as much as 1.4 percent to $21,790 a tonne, its highest since April 20.

OTHER METALS: Aluminium inched up 0.2 percent to $1,915.50 per tonne, zinc added 0.5 percent to $2,737, lead gained 0.6 percent to $2,087 while nickel rose 1 percent to $13,120.