News: BHP METALS-Copper hits 10-day high on technical support, supply risks

(Updates prices)

Copper prices rose to a 10-day high on Thursday, supported by a break above key technical levels and potential supply risks related to a strike at BHP's Escondida mine, but trading volumes remained low as fund investors stayed on the sideline.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 reached $9,109 per metric ton earlier in the day, breaking both 200-day and 21-day moving averages. It was trading up 1.5% at $9,098 as at 1153 GMT.

"Turnovers for copper and aluminium were significantly lower," senior base metals strategist Alastair Munro told Reuters.

Copper rallied to an all-time high in late May fuelled by speculation, but many funds have retreated and switched to gold and oil from metals, he said.

Trading volumes so far this week for copper were at 60,589 lots, compared to 180,788 lots for the week up to May 17.

Focus was also on potential disruption to supply in Chile. Union workers at Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine, rejected operator BHP (BHP) 's request to pause their strike. BHP is yet to disclose any estimate on the impact on production.

Munro said it would take time for the market to factor in any potential significant drop in physical supply from the strike, Munro said.

More copper could be marked as ready to leave LME's registered warehouses, or "cancelled", in the coming week, he said, citing a historical linkage between stock cancellations and a tighter spread.

"Tom-next", which is the cost of rolling a short cash position overnight, narrowed notably to $6 a ton to reflect expectations of falling copper availabilty. MCUT-0=LX

29,175 tonnes of copper in LME's Asian warehouses are cancelled on Aug. 14, almost doubled from 15,200 tonnes a week ago. 0#MCUSTX-LOC-GRD

"More copper warrants were cancelled in Asia this week and those are ready to return to China", a trader source said.

It could mark a point of reverse for a multi-month

inflow from China

to LME as Chinese producers sold

record

amounts of copper overseas into the LME rally.

Over the past three months, the LME copper stockpile has trippled to 307,450 tonnes . MCUSTX-TOTAL

LME aluminium CMAL3 rose 0.8% to $2,353.5 a ton, lead CMPB3 increased 1.6% to $2,040.5, zinc CMZN3 edged up 1.7% at $2,762, tin CMSN3 advanced 1.2% to $31,800 and nickel CMNI3 was up 0.9% at $16,420.