Shanghai copper rises

The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed 0.7 percent higher at 53,050 yuan a tonne on Wednesday. Copper has lost 12 percent since hitting $8,346 a tonne in early February. Last month, the metal hit its lowest in a year-and-a-half following weak growth data from China.
But consumption of refined copper by Chinese fabricators, which buy the metal to make semi-finished or finished products, such as rods and tubes, has increased in the past few weeks, which could boost the need for imports in May. "We expect imports to rise gradually from May, as domestic demand rises," said Yang Xiaoguang, analyst at Jinrui Futures. "Our understanding is that many fabricators have resumed normal production in the past few weeks and the government has brought forward investments in the power sector, from July-August in previous years."