Copper futures in Shanghai rose 1.4 percent on Thursday after the metal jumped nearly 2 percent in London overnight on supply worries, but the gains could be capped by lingering concerns about demand in China. The most active Shanghai September copper contract increased 880 yuan to 62,220 yuan ($9,041) by 0303 GMT.
London Metal Exchange copper for delivery in three months added $25, or 0.3 percent, to its $152-jump overnight. A strike is severely cutting output at Southern Copper's Cuajone mine in Peru, a company officer said. Southern's other operation in Moquegua province, the Ilo smelter, is running low on supplies.
Other Peruvian mines have also been hit by strikes and protests. The gap in prices between the London and Shanghai copper markets widened to 4,232 yuan, from 4,004 yuan on Wednesday, including Chinese value-added tax, well down from a record 6,549 yuan on April 18.