Copper climbed for the first time in three days in Asia on investor optimism that demand for the metal used in electrical wiring and plumbing is recovering. Stockpiles of copper monitored by the London Metal Exchange fell to 457,300 metric tons yesterday, while canceled warrants, indicating metal to be taken from storage, rose to 16 percent of total inventories. Refined copper imports by China, the world’s largest user, rose 10 percent in March from a month earlier. “Copper prices are now looking well-supported by both improving fundamentals, as well as flow of investment funds,” Wang Guanyun, a trader at China International Futures Co. (Beijing), said today. “We’re going to see corrections along the way but copper is in quite a strong uptrend at the moment and might test $5,000 some time this quarter.” Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.4 percent to $4,570 a ton at 10:43 a.m. Singapore time after earlier gaining as much as 1.6 percent. The metal fell to the lowest in almost two-weeks yesterday. July-delivery copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained as much as 2 percent to 38,100 yuan ($5,579) a ton and last traded at 37,970 yuan. The most-active contract dropped by as much as the daily limit yesterday. China’s copper imports increased to 296,843 tons last month, the Beijing-based customs office said today, citing revised final data. Imports were 138 percent more than March last year, according to customs data. Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum, lead and tin were little changed at $1,458, $1,460 and $12,150 a ton respectively. Zinc slid 2.3 percent to $1,441 a ton, while nickel rose 1.7 percent to $11,700 a ton as of 10:42 a.m. Singapore time.

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