China's producer price inflation accelerated unexpectedly to a six-month high in September amidst a construction boom that displayed no signs of abating. The better than expected factory inflation figure was followed by data that showed China's copper imports jumped last month, fuelling demand optimism.
Customs data revealed that inbound shipments of unwrought copper imports soared by 26.50% in September from a year earlier. Further underlining the inherent market strength were figures from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which showed that hedge fund managers last week increased their net long positions in the metal for the first time in five weeks. Copper futures for October delivery touched an intra-session high of $3.2430 a pound on Monday before pulling back in early Tuesday trade to around the $3.2000-zone.
Copper Hits 3-Year High
Daily Analysis - 17/10/2017