Chinese demand improves LME copper rose on Friday

Investors have become increasingly optimistic about the economic recovery, boosting investor sentiment after China said it had brought the emerging outbreak under control
.

At 17:00 London time on June 19 (00:00 Beijing time on June 20), three-month LME copper closed up $44.
5, or 0.
77%, at $5,849.
5 a tonne
.
The weekly chart is up 1.
12%
for the week.

Copper prices have risen 34% from their March lows and are approaching their pre-Covid high of $6.
343 in January
.

Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said massive central bank stimulus measures and spending plans for metal-intensive infrastructure also supported prices
.

LME warehouse receipt copper stocks fell by 10,025 tonnes to 127,875 tonnes, down from around 250,000 tonnes in mid-May
.

Copper stocks in warehouses on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (Sh FE) fell by 18,162 tonnes to 109,969 tonnes in the week ended Friday, the lowest level
since January 2019.

VTB Capital analyst Dmitry Gl ushakov said copper consumption in China is expected to be 2 percent
higher in the second quarter than in the same period in 2019.

The premium for copper imports at China's Yangshan port climbed to $95 a tonne, from $84 at the start of the week, signaling a pick-up
in demand.

The International Copper Research Group (ICSG) said in its latest monthly report that the global refined copper market was oversupplied by 1,000 tonnes in March and 131,000 tonnes
in February.
The refined copper market was oversupplied by 130,000 tonnes in the first three months of the year, compared with a shortfall of 12,000 tonnes
in the same period last year, the ICSG said.

Industry officials said Peru's mining companies are speeding up stalled operations through massive testing, quarantines and switching production models, bringing the world's second-largest copper producer to 80 percent capacity
by the end of June.

Bank of America analyst Michael Widmer said copper prices could rise to $6,500 a tonne, more than 10%
above current levels, as governments continue to ramp up fiscal stimulus to curb the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.