METALS-Copper jumps to near two-year high as Chinese producers plan output cut

(Updates prices, adds quotes) By Mai Nguyen March 13 (Reuters) - Copper prices surged to the highest in nearly two years in China and hit a seven-month peak in London on Wednesday, as Chinese smelters sought output cuts to cope with raw material tightness. The most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) SCFcv1 climbed as much as 1.1% to 70,460 yuan ($9,795.91) per metric ton, the highest since April 2022. It closed up 1% at 70,420 yuan. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) CMCU3 rose as much as 0.7% to $8,719 a ton, the highest since August 2023. Top Chinese copper smelters agreed on Wednesday to cut production at some loss-making plants, driven by a drop in their income due to a tightness in ore supply caused by mine disruptions and global smelting capacity surge. "Copper bulls had been waiting for a moment like this; they got it. Time to celebrate. A close above $8,700 could take metal to $9,000," Sandeep Daga, a director at Metal Intelligence Centre, said. Analysts had forecast that copper processing fees could rebound from the second quarter when Chinese smelters enter their maintenance season. Demand outlook for copper this year has been flat so far due to weak economic growth and a lack of strong stimulus support from China. "Investors may (later) realise that demand and supply are both slowing together. This might bring a sell-off," Daga said. LME aluminium CMAL3 rose 0.2% to $2,269.50 a ton at 0759 GMT, nickel CMNI3 eased 0.3% to $18,505, zinc CMZN3 climbed 0.6% to $2,576, lead CMPB3 edged up 0.2% at $2,147.50 while tin CMSN3 fell 0.1% to $27,495. SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 closed up 0.2% at 19,235 yuan a ton, nickel SNIcv1 jumped 1.3% to 142,050 yuan, zinc SZNcv1 advanced 0.2% to 21,390 yuan, lead SPBcv1 edged up 0.4% to 16,340 yuan, while tin SSNcv1 lost 0.1% to 219,980 yuan. For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L ($1 = 7.1928 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi, additional reporting by Siyi Liu in Beijing; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sonia Cheema) (([email protected]; Reuters Messaging: [email protected])) (( For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview RING= COMEX copper futures 0#HG: All metals news MTL All commodities news C Foreign exchange rates FX= SPEED GUIDES LME/INDEX ))