US copper futures at the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division edged higher early Wednesday on the back of better-than-expected US economic data. Active May copper rose 1.95 cents to $3.8260 a lb by 10:02 am EDT (1402 GMT). Range from $3.7665 to $3.8475.
Futures volumes estimated at 3,363 lots by 9:00 am. Copper up on wave of economic optimism after report showed US private employers unexpectedly added 8,000 jobs in March. Revised February figures showed a loss of 18,000 jobs. Attention now turns to Friday's non-farm payrolls report, which is expected to show a fall of 60,000 in March jobs.
Continued strike at Grupo Mexico's Cananea copper pit will push back the company's plans to reach full output by May. Southern Copper, a unit of Grupo Mexico, expects to invest about $1.3 billion in Peruvian copper project, CEO Los Chancas said.
Southern expects to produce 650,000 tonnes of copper this year, up from 592,000 tonnes last year. Chile's Supreme Court reviewing pleas from state-owned Codelco to overturn government mandate to hire thousands of subcontracted workers. Analysts said high copper prices should keep labour problems rumbling in Chile for the foreseeable future.