US copper futures settled Monday at their highest levels since early November, as a rally on Wall Street and another steep fall in inventories drove the bullish momentum, with further gains likely in the days ahead, traders said. COMEX estimated futures volume at 13,764 lots by 12 pm EDT (1600 GMT). Final volume on Friday hit 14,745 lots.
Chinas imports of unwrought copper, including anode, refined metal and copper alloy, surged 79.3 percent on the year to 283,461 tonnes in February. Imports for the first two months of the year amounted to 485,283 tonnes, up 53.5 percent from a year earlier. South Korea has issued a tender to buy 6,000 tonnes of copper cathode on a cost, insurance and freight basis for shipping by May 10.