London copper was pushed higher on Tuesday on bets that demand in top consumer China will improve in 2018, keeping prices near four-year highs at the start of trading in the new year.

China is the world's largest consumer of industrial metals and accounts for nearly half of global copper demand. The metal has been supported by Beijing's attack on polluting industries, supply reforms and robust demand growth.

Fundamentals

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange climbed 0.3 per cent to $7,267.50 a tonne by 0113 GMT. The contract ended 2017 with an annual 31 per cent price gain, reaching prices last seen in January 2014 after peaking at $7,312.50 on December 28, according to Reuters data.

SHFE

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was trading 0.3 per cent lower at 55,430 yuan ($8,519) a tonne

Copper treatment cut

China's copper smelters had on Friday lowered the floor for their treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) in the first quarter of 2018 by 8.4 per cent, signalling tighter supply of copper concentrate in the first three months of the New Year.

Aluminium refinery go-ahead

Guinea's government has approved a more than $2.8 billion investment by Chinese company TBEA Co Ltd in a new bauxite mine, an aluminium refinery and an aluminium smelter, the mines ministry had said on Friday.

Safety warning

Shanghai has issued a warning on the safety of metal products manufactured by scandal-hit Japanese firm Kobe Steel Ltd and strengthened the scrutiny measures, state-owned Xinhua news agency reported, citing the city's inspection body.

Other metals

With the exception of lead, the remainder of active ShFE base metals contracts were firmer, led by nickel, up nearly 2 per cent, with aluminium up 1.2 per cent and tin rising 1.3 per cent. Zinc was 1 per cent higher.

Related Topics