BLBG:Copper Rises as Chinese Trade Tops Estimates and Car Sales Jump
Copper rose in London, rebounding from three days of declines, after trade figures exceeded estimates and car sales jumped to a record in China, the world’s biggest consumer of the metal.
Exports from China gained 25 percent last month and imports climbed 29 percent, government figures showed today, both higher than projected by economists in Bloomberg surveys. Sales of passenger vehicles in the country surged 49 percent in January, a state-backed trade group said. Still, financial markets in China will close next week for the Lunar New Year.
“Chinese exports and imports rose strongly in January,” driving industrial metals higher, said Justin Froome, a broker at Marex Spectron Group in London. “Overnight volumes continue to be low before Chinese New Year.”
Copper for delivery in three months added 0.4 percent to $8,229 a metric ton by 9:54 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange and was down 0.7 percent this week. Copper for delivery in March rose 0.3 percent to $3.737 a pound on the Comex in New York.
Trading volume on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was 59 percent lower than the 100-day average for the current time of day for copper and down 38 percent for zinc. The International Copper Study Group says an average midsize car contains about 50 pounds of the metal.
Imports of copper into China rose 2.9 percent in January from the prior month, customs figures showed today, as trading firms bought the metal before the Lunar New Year in preparation for a recovery in demand in March.
“China remains the key driver and should prove positive for prices in the coming year,” Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. analysts led by Mark Pervan said in a report. They forecast “stronger importing activity” in the second half.
Copper stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai exchange fell to 196,699 tons, the lowest in more than three months, data from the bourse showed. Inventories tracked by the LME rose 2.8 percent to 399,825 tons, the highest level since Nov. 16, 2011, according to daily exchange figures. Orders to remove the metal from LME warehouses fell 1.8 percent to 32,175 tons.
Aluminum, nickel, tin, lead and zinc gained in London.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in London at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
