Copper prices advanced on Monday, rebounding from a fall last week, as inventories in Shanghai exchange warehouses dropped to a more than 12-year low.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 1.6% at $9,858 a tonne, as of 0727 GMT, while the most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended down 0.1% at 72,110 yuan ($11,295.32) a tonne.

ShFE copper stockpiles fell to 39,839 tonnes, the lowest since June 2009, while LME inventories of the metal were last at 161,550 tonnes, a level not seen since June 22.

“Industrial metals are recovering from last week’s fall. Lower inventories and impact of power rationing on several metals in China are supporting the recovery, this is despite power supply cuts easing in some provinces,” ANZ analyst Soni Kumari said.

Money managers boosted their net long positions in COMEX copper contracts to 54,030 contracts, the highest since May 11.

FUNDAMENTALS

* LME cash nickel was at a premium of $118 a tonne over the three-month contract , its highest since October 2019, indicating tightening nearby supplies as on-warrant stocks dropped to 75,954 tonnes, the lowest since December 2019.

* The premium of LME cash zinc over the three-month contract was $51 a tonne, also suggesting shortage of readily available stocks, as on-warrant zinc inventories fell to 143,575 tonnes, the lowest since July 2020.

* China’s Guizhou Power Grid released a document on Oct. 21 asking aluminum smelters to reduce electricity usage, Mysteel consultancy reported, further affecting supply of the metal that has been impacted by Chinese power shortage for months.

* LME aluminum rose 2% to $2,924.50 a tonne, nickel advanced 1.2% to $19,975 a tonne, zinc edged up 0.1% at $3,451.50 a tonne, while lead advanced 0.1% to $2,426 a tonne.

* ShFE aluminum fell 1.6% to 21,665 yuan a tonne, nickel fell 1% to 149,880 yuan a tonne and tin declined 0.5% to 281,490 yuan a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi, Additional reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Vinay Dwivedi)