HANOI: London copper prices fell on Monday amid rising exchange inventories and signs of weakening demand from top consumer China weighed on sentiment.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.7% to $8,900 a tonne by 0321 GMT, while the most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 1.1% to 66,290 yuan ($10,131.28) a tonne, tracking gains in London in the previous session.

Copper inventories in LME warehouses have risen 67% so far in March to 123,800 tonnes, their highest since Dec. 16, 2020. Stockpiles of the metal in ShFE warehouses were last at 188,359 tonnes, a high level unseen since September 2020.

Meanwhile, Yangshan copper premium dropped to $60 a tonne, its lowest since Dec. 23, 2020, as inventories in bonded warehouses leaped to 382,000 tonnes, their highest since July 2019, indicating weakening demand for imported metal into China.