OREANDA-NEWS. March 23, 2015. Copper prices jumped to a more than two-month high on Friday after Chinese inventories fell for the first time in two months, a signal that demand in the top metals consumer is slowly recovering after the Lunar New Year holiday. Prices also gained support from supply concerns as a blockade of the Grasberg mine in Indonesia marked its fifth day.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 3.3 percent to close at \\$6,045 a tonne, after rising as high as \\$6,082.50 a tonne, the highest since Jan. 12. The increase extended a jump of 3.2 percent on Thursday.

The contract erased early losses after weekly data showed copper stocks in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) fell 2,267 tonnes or 0.9 percent, the first drop since Jan. 23.

Shanghai copper stocks, which have more than doubled this year, were being watched for signals that industrial users had geared up following the New Year holiday.

"There was a lot of anticipation about ShFE stocks. The consensus view from Asia was that if it was a gain of over 10,000 or 20,000 tonnes, it would be a bearish signal," said analyst Vivienne Lloyd at Macquarie in London.

A decline in LME copper stocks also supported prices, while the wider metals market benefited from a weaker dollar due to indications the US Federal Reserve was less likely to raise interest rates aggressively.

A weaker US currency makes dollar-denominated assets such as metals cheaper for buyers holding other currencies. The blockade at Grasberg in Indonesia, one of the world's biggest copper mines, also helped bolster prices.

Among other metals, lead gained 4.2 percent to close at \\$1,782 a tonne.

Aluminum rose 0.9 percent to \\$1,796 a tonne. Nickel gained 3.5 percent to close at \\$14,250 a tonne as traders said the metal was still finding support from trade data showing the global nickel surplus fell 70 percent between December and January.

Zinc rose 2.1 percent to close at \\$2,063 a tonne, and tin gained 1.9 percent to \\$17,305 a tonne.