The price of three-month copper was up slightly yesterday on the LME settling at $8,830 (£5,347).
This compares to $8,805 (£5,329) on Friday. Chinese customs figures yesterday confirmed that scrap imports into China were up in July to 432,317 tonnes. This is the highest figure since December.
Barclays Capital analyst Gayle Barry said in a research note: “This, together with strong growth in domestic refined output paints a robust picture of metal demand in China. This buying is all the more impressive since it comes at a seasonally slower period of end-user activity.”
Aluminium was at $2,362 (£1,430) up a little from Friday’s $2,345 (£1,419). Alloy was at $2,280 (£1,381) from $2,250 (£1,362) on Friday.
Lead was priced at $2,296 (£1,390) from $2,319 (£1,404) on Friday. Nickel was at $21,075 (£12,762) down from Friday’s $21,505 (£13,016).
Tin was also lower at $23,150 (£14,018) after ending last week at $23,200 (£14,042). Zinc settled at $2,168 (£1,313) from $2,190 (£1,326) on Friday.
Steel was up $10 to $570 (£345) from Friday’s $560 (£339).
