Shanghai copper futures jumped on Friday for the second straight day, buoyed by the twin factors of tight spot supply domestically and an overnight price surge on the London Metal Exchange, traders said.
Shanghai's most active contract, December, closed 580 yuan higher at 27,100 yuan ($3,274) a tonne, while most other contracts closed up between 250 yuan and 580 yuan. Combined volume jumped to 212,292 lots from already heavy 173,492 lots on Thursday.
The shortfall of spot copper on the domestic market was due to slow imports from May to August, when local copper prices underperformed global markets, traders said. Spot copper in Shanghai jumped nearly 700 yuan to move in a range of 29,800 to 30,100 yuan a tonne on Friday its highest in more than six months, traders said.
"The Shanghai market will possibly continue to outperform London next week," said a Chinese trader. "But the trend may reverse in late September as market talk is that more imports will arrive around that time."
LME three-month closed on Thursday's kerb session up a steep $54 at $2,823 a tonne, though it trimmed some gains on Friday's Asian trade to move at $2,808/$2,813. Shanghai aluminium contracts climbed 160 to 350 yuan a tonne on Friday to track local copper as volume surged to a heavy 102,136 lots from a moderate 36,218 lots on Thursday.
LME aluminium was at $1,710/$1,713 per tonne on Friday's Asian trade against $1,713 in London on Thursday.