Copper prices fell on Thursday as growing inventories in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses eased traders' concerns over tightness in global supply of the metal.

Three-month copper on the LME was down 0.4% at $9,366 a tonne, as of 0326 GMT, while the most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange declined 1.7% to 69,000 yuan ($10,822.51) a tonne.

On-warrant LME inventories rose to 62,100 tonnes to their highest level since Oct. 11, helping to ease the premium of LME cash copper over the three-month contract to $14.90 a tonne, a significant drop from the record premium of $1,103.50 a tonne recorded last month.

Most recent copper deliveries were to LME warehouses in the United States.

Dollar surge pushes down copper prices

Fundamentals

Money managers' net long positioning on copper on COMEX fell to 24,339 contracts, as of Nov. 9, latest exchange data showed, the lowest since Sept. 21, as they boosted short positions to 37,136, the highest since Aug. 24.

LME cash aluminium over the three-month contract rose to $10.70 a tonne, its highest since Aug. 31, indicating tightening nearby supplies.

China's zinc output in October fell 9.2% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday, while alumina production hit a 10-month low as power curbs on smelters and refiners constrained supply.

LME aluminium fell 0.8% to $2,596 a tonne, zinc declined 0.9% to $3,164 a tonne, ShFE zinc dropped 1.7% to 22,450 yuan a tonne, while ShFE tin rose 1.5% to 286,360 yuan a tonne.