Copper rises on strong China demand

By Solomon Cefai

SINGAPORE, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Copper prices rose on Tuesday, as strong demand in top consumer China pushed the metal back towards its record high.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.61% at $14,750.5 a metric ton by 0300 GMT, rising for a sixth straight session.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped 1.56% to 111,670 yuan ($16,675.88) a ton, also helped by renewed speculative support.

The Yangshan copper premium , a gauge of Chinese appetite for imported copper, fell to $119 a ton on Monday, but was still 65% above the start of the month.

Available copper stocks in LME-registered warehouses fell to 133,725 tons on Monday, daily LME data showed, after 9,600 tons of fresh cancellations in Asia.

Support also came from expectations that buyers in China would rebuild inventories before holidays on September 25 and from October 1 to 7.

Traders were awaiting a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week for signals on trade ties and the global economic outlook.

The gains marked a rebound after a brief pullback in a broader rally over recent months. Prices had drawn support from concerns that a possible US tariff on refined copper imports would pull more metal into US warehouses.

Copper hit a record high of $14,875 a ton on September 10 on tight supply outside the United States, before easing after a report said the White House had yet to decide on the tariff.

Among LME metals, aluminium rose 0.34%, zinc gained 0.27%, lead was little changed, nickel advanced 0.63% and tin climbed 0.62%.

On the SHFE, aluminium was little changed, zinc was steady, lead added 0.34%, nickel gained 0.79% and tin climbed 0.94%.

($1 = 6.6965 Chinese yuan)