Copper gains on higher factory output in China

Most base metals prices were higher Friday, with copper up on positive data from China and the United States, where retail sales were up in November and consumer confidence was reported higher this month.

In China, industrial output was up 19 percent in November from the same month last year, while imports of unwrought copper and partly-finished copper products were up 10 percent in November from October’s levels, leading to hopes that demand is beginning to recover.

March copper added 3 cents to $3.13 per pound in New York trade, while three-month copper was up $26 to $6,835 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

Inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 8.6 percent to 95,676 tonnes, but LME-monitored stockpiles added 4,450 tonnes to 466,075 tonnes on the session and are up by around 80 percent since July.

Aluminium added $72 to $2,275 per tonne in London as inventories dropped by almost 4,000 tonnes but remained near record highs.

Lead was up $26 to $2,301 per tonne, zinc added $28 to $2,298 per tonne and nickel gained $375 to $16,650 per tonne, but tin prices dropped $100 to $15,200 per tonne.

Precious metals prices, on the other hand, were lower as February gold was down $6.30 to $1,119.90 per troy ounce while March silver fell 10 cents to $17.09 and January platinum dropped $1.80 to $1,422.70 per troy ounce.