Supply concerns lift copper prices

SINGAPORE: Shanghai copper rose nearly 3 percent yesterday to a 15-month high after London futures extended a 1.7 percent rally in the previous session, buoyed by supply concerns and the US dollar's first decline in five sessions.

Smelters are caving into demands for lower treatment charges from miners - Japanese and Chinese copper smelters have agreed to a 38 percent cut in 2010 fees with Freeport-McMoRan - illustrating that the market for concentrate is looking tight.

That tightness could be exacerbated if miners at one of the world's biggest copper mines, Codelco's Chuquicamata in Chile, reject a final pay deal. Earlier this week, unions voted down an initial offer.