London copper prices rose on Monday, rebounding from a weekly loss, as the piling up of inventories in top consumer China slowed.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.5% to $8,912 a metric ton by 0339 GMT, while the most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) was flat at 72,520 yuan ($10,068.73) a ton.

Copper inventories in warehouses tracked by the SHFE fell for the first time on a weekly basis since Dec. 22 to 285,090 tons, albeit still hovering around their highest since 2020 due to strong Chinese production and imports.

“Chinese refineries have not yet reduced production in March, and consumption has (only) returned at a slow pace. However, there are signs of an end of inventory accumulation,” Jinrui Futures analysts said in a note.

Markets will be focusing on the pace of maintenance by Chinese smelters in the second quarter, they said.

“If the macroeconomic environment cools down, copper prices will be at risk of falling back, but based on expectations of destocking in the second quarter, the room may be limited,” they added.

Comex copper speculators increased their long positions to 99,829 contracts on March 19, the highest since May 2021, data by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed, due to a potential supply cut in China.

Copper slips on demand worries, lead drops as inventories jump

LME aluminium edged up 0.2% to $2,313.50 a ton, nickel increased 0.3% to $17,300, zinc advanced 0.5% to $2,496, lead was up 0.3% at $2,042.50, while tin edged down 0.1% to $27,690.

SHFE aluminium increased 0.3% to 19,475 yuan a ton, lead edged up 0.1% at 16,230 yuan, while nickel fell 1.3% to 134,130 yuan, zinc fell 0.5% to 21,215 yuan and tin declined 0.5% to 226,670 yuan.