Shanghai Futures Exchange copper finished up 0.8 percent at 48,690 yuan ($7,072) a tonne on Thursday as a strong dollar weighed against improving manufacturing reports out of Asia and the United States that brightened the outlook for demand. China's factory activity expanded faster than expected in February as domestic and export demand picked up, while South Korea's industrial production surged at its quickest pace in over seven years in January.
"Positive economic data and further supply-side issues should see metal prices well supported today," ANZ said in a report. A three-week-long strike at Chile's Escondida copper mine, the world's biggest, turned ugly on Wednesday when a group of striking workers blocked a highway, provoking confrontations with the police. In zinc news, Noranda Income Fund said it was deferring its 2017 zinc production and sales forecasts due to an ongoing strike by workers at its Quebec processing plant, the second-largest in North America.