Copper rose in London on speculation about continued demand for the metal after stockpiles shrank for three weeks. Global inventories in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange dropped for 16 straight sessions until today. Copper booked for delivery now makes up 18 percent of total stockpiles, up from 1.4 percent at the start of this year. The increase signals the removal of more metal, according to Dan Smith, an analyst at Standard Chartered Plc in London. “The general draw down in copper will probably continue, and it is obviously supportive,” he said today by telephone. “We are quite bullish copper short term, and for the time being, the general trend across metals is going to be up.” Copper for delivery in three months rose $95, or 2.1 percent, to $4,625 a metric ton on the LME at 10:40 a.m. local time. The metal for July delivery gained 3.25 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $2.1150 a pound in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. Copper also advanced on the differential with prices in Shanghai. Futures in China are trading at a premium to the LME after adding 4.9 percent this week, compared with a 0.3 percent climb in London. One-month copper in Shanghai is trading at a premium of $330 a ton to London metal, Smith said. “It’s supportive for copper, as it implies imports will remain high in May,” he said. Singapore Stockpiles Copper inventories in LME-monitored warehouses rose 1.8 percent to 402,150 tons today. In Singapore, a location close to China, stockpiles have plunged by 91 percent since reaching this year’s peak on April 14. The metal, used in electrical wiring and plumbing, has gained almost 50 percent this year in London, buoyed by Chinese demand. China imported a record amount of copper in March. Imports may drop, after almost doubling in the first quarter, on increasing domestic inventories and a halt of government buying, said an official at China Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Co., the biggest trader. “We’ll need to see whether the stockpiles built up by manufacturers can be consumed in the second quarter, and I’m not optimistic about that,” Gu Liangmin, deputy general manager of Minmetals’ copper department, said in an interview. Preliminary figures for April imports may be released on May 12, according to the Web site of China’s customs office. The U.S. housing market has “shown some signs of bottoming” after a three-year slump, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday. Builders are the biggest consumers of copper in the U.S., putting about 400 pounds into an average home. Among other LME metals for delivery in three months, aluminum fell 0.4 percent to $1,538 a ton. Stockpiles in LME- monitored warehouses gained to a record 3.84 million tons. Tin rose 5.6 percent to $13,200 a ton, paring a climb as high as $13,290, the highest intraday price since Nov. 26. Nickel advanced 0.8 percent to $12,100 a ton, zinc added 0.7 percent to $1,540 a ton, and lead gained 1.9 percent to $1,432 a ton.

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