WSJ: Chinese Export Growth Lifts Comex Copper to One-Week High
--Comex March copper trades up 3 cents, or 0.8%, at $3.7005 a pound
--China's trade surplus rises sharply in December, raising copper-demand hopes
--China copper imports slump in December as warehouse supplies seen as ample
By Matt Day
NEW YORK--Copper futures climbed to a one-week high on Thursday after data showing growth in Chinese exports bolstered the view that the economy of the world's largest metals consumer was accelerating.
The most actively traded copper contract, for March delivery, traded up 3 cents, or 0.8%, at $3.7005 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures rose as high as $3.718 a pound in early trading, the highest intraday price since Jan. 3.
China's trade surplus rose sharply in December, the latest sign that the country's economy picked up steam heading into the end of the year. The data followed similar upbeat readings on manufacturing activity and industrial profits.
"The fact that China's exports have improved so much is read as a sign that world demand may be better than initially thought," Standard Bank analyst Walter de Wet said in a note.
China, which consumes a 40% share of world copper output, saw its trade surplus widen to $31.6 billion in December from $19.6 billion a month earlier, the General Administration of Customs said on Thursday, as exports climbed. Economists had expected the trade surplus to remain unchanged.
China's imports of copper, copper alloy, and semifinished products hit a record 4.65 million tons in 2012, up 14% from 2011.
Still, the country's copper imports fell 24.5% in December from November levels, customs data showed, likely a result of already high copper stockpiles in the country after strong imports in the previous months.
Analysts with Commerzbank said in a note that the copper-imports decline was also the result of lower domestic prices in China, which limited the incentive to buy the metal at higher world-market prices and import. Strong domestic copper production likely also played a role, the analysts said.
-Chuin-Wei Yap and Zhoudong Shangguan contributed to this article.
