Bloomberg reported that copper rallied to 14 month high in Asia on speculation that rising consumption in China will offset weaker demand in the US.

The metal for immediate delivery in Changjiang jumped to an 11 month high of CNY 52,625 per tonne, a sign demand may be improving. China and the US are the world’s 2 biggest copper users.

The dollar was at USD 1.4881 versus the euro from USD 1.4876 in New York. It has fallen 5.9% in 2009. February delivery copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as much as 1% to CNY 53,720 per tonne and last traded at CNY 53,470.

Inventories in Shanghai are at 5 year high. Copper stockpiles tallied by the London Metal Exchange rose for an 11th day to 410,000 tonnes, the highest since April 29. Among other LME traded metals, aluminium was little changed at USD 2,043 per tonne and zinc rose 0.4% to USD 2,272.25 per tonne. Nickel fell 0.2% to USD 16,860 per tonne while lead and tin hadn’t traded.

Mr Cai Luoyi an analyst at China International Futures Company said that “We’re expecting some consolidation ahead as the market faces the quandary of improved demand and rising stockpiles. The weaker dollar and inflation expectations will put a floor under prices.”

Copper for delivery in 3 months on the London Metal Exchange gained as much as 0.7% to USD 6,875 per tonne, the highest level since September 26th 2008 and traded at USD 6,840 at 11:40 AM in Singapore.

The metal has more than doubled this year as the global economy recovers from its worst recession since World War II and a weaker dollar encourages investment in physical assets. It fell as much as 1% after a report showed US industrial production rose less than expected in October as manufacturing declined for the first time in 4 months.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)