Shanghai copper rose slightly on Friday after a one percent increase in the metal in London overnight, but expectations that Shanghai copper inventories could increase as much as 13 percent this week capped the gains.
Shanghai Futures Exchange October copper rose 150 yuan to 62,070 yuan ($9,093) at the daily close, while LME three-month copper eased $45 to $8,115 by 0700 GMT, after rising 1 percent overnight on positive US housing data.
Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 13 percent in the week ended Thursday, to 42,935 tonnes, the exchange said on Friday after the market close.
The gap in prices between London and Shanghai copper futures widened to 2,647 yuan, from 2,508 yuan on Thursday, including Chinese value-added tax. The gap reached its widest ever, at 6,719 yuan, on July 3. China's refined copper output rose 16.4 percent from a year earlier to 330,600 tonnes in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. Copper output in the first half of the year rose 19 percent to 1.82 million tonnes, it said.
Shanghai October aluminium ended up 5 yuan to 19,260 yuan a tonne, while LME three-month aluminium eased $42, or 1.3 percent, to $3,085 a tonne. Shanghai October zinc rose 40 yuan to 15,240 yuan.