The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 0.88 percent to 45,760 yuan ($6,607) a tonne on Thursday, aided by a brightening outlook for Chinese metals demand. Elsewhere in metals, ShFE aluminium was down 0.4 percent at 12,570 yuan, while ShFE zinc and ShFE lead were each around 2 percent higher. Traders said news that Zambian workers had downed tools at a mine and copper processing plant belonging to Konkola Copper Mines over wage talks, was insufficient to raise concerns over supply.
But if workers at the BHP Billiton-owned Escondida copper mine in Chile - the world's biggest - decide to strike in February over collective contract talks, copper could get a price boost. Labour talks at Escondida are seen as a benchmark for the copper industry at large. "At Escondida alone, over 1.1 million tonnes is at risk should negotiators fail to reach agreement on a new long-term labour contract," Barclays analyst Dane Davis said in a note.