Copper rises on supply risks, demand optimism

Copper prices edged up on Monday, with ongoing supply risks and hopes for stronger demand supporting the metal, according to Business Recorder. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.3% to $14,585.00 a metric ton by 0704 GMT, having posted a weekly gain on Friday. The most-traded Shanghai Futures Exchange contract climbed 0.9% to 110,630 yuan a ton.

Chile's mining regulator SERNAGEOMIN said a landslide at Codelco's El Teniente mine on Sunday led to a partial suspension of operations, leaving two workers dead and a third surviving. A separate strike at Antofagasta's Centinela copper mine continues, and talks are set to restart Tuesday, with voluntary mediation put forward by local labor officials.

Unions said on Thursday that the Centinela walkout may fully show up in November, when output could be cut in half. Commerzbank also pointed to government-mediated wage negotiations under way at Escondida, the planet's biggest copper mine. The Yangshan premium, a gauge of Chinese purchases of overseas copper, reached $135 a ton, its highest in four years, while Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouse stocks rose 51.6% from end-September to 58,744 tonnes.