Copper pares gains as oil rally weighs on industrial metals
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Copper gave up most of its early gains on Thursday, as a jump in oil prices revived inflation and interest rate worries and weighed on industrial metals, though supply concerns kept it slightly higher.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.11% at $14,491 a metric ton by 0700 GMT. Earlier in the session, it touched $14,646 a ton, its highest in nearly two weeks.
The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.63% to 110,260 yuan ($16,452.05) a ton.
Early expectations that Chinese buyers could restock following the country's week-long holiday, and amid low stocks and mounting mine supply risks supported copper prices, CRU principal analyst Craig Lang said.
In Chile, workers are on strike at Antofagasta's Centinela copper mine, while BHP this week said it had requested government mediation to avert a strike at the Escondida copper mine, which is the world's biggest.
In the Philippines, copper and gold miner Philex Mining Corporation said on October 1 that a union of workers there had voted to go on strike.
The three mines account for nearly 5.5% of global copper mine production, Lang said.
The supply disruptions have added to concerns over tightening availability outside the US, as traders have shipped material into the country ahead of a potential tariff on refined copper imports.
The LME cash-to-three-month copper spread
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