Copper has closed at its highest price in more than two weeks on the London Metal Exchange (LME), boosted by supply concerns after news of a temporary halt in production at Anglo American PLC's Los Bronces mine in Chile.
The LME's three-month copper contract was up 2 per cent at $US6,602 a metric at the PM kerb close on Tuesday, its highest settlement since March 10. Aluminium closed 1.2 per cent higher at $US1,752 a ton.
Copper prices rose after violent contract-worker protests disrupted operations at Anglo American PLC's Los Bronces mine in Chile.
The company shut down the mine on Monday to ensure safety, a company spokesman told The Wall Street Journal via email. Work at the mine was restarted on Tuesday, and Anglo American expects production to return to normal levels by the end of the day, he said.
Los Bronces produced 416,300 metric tons of copper in 2013, or about seven per cent of Chile's annual output, according to futures brokerage Marex Spectron.
Hopes that the Chinese government will step in to boost economic growth following a spate of poor economic data also propped up copper prices on Tuesday.
HSBC's preliminary Purchasing Managers' Index for China, released on Monday, hit an eight-month low at 48.1 in March. A reading above 50 indicates expansion from the previous month, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
"The market expects Chinese authorities to publish mini-stimulus measures to keep the economy steady," said Richard Fu, head of Asian commodities trading at Newedge.
"In a way, every time bad figures are out of China such expectations are getting higher."
China is the world's top consumer of metals like copper.
