Copper jumped to a four month high today as stockpiles on the London Metal Exchange had their biggest drop since October 17 and a report showed higher demand in China.

Erasing fears of a lower demand from the United States, the attention has moved to inventory declines on the London Metal Exchange. Copper inventories fell by 6,275 metric tons or 4.2 percent to 144,375 metric tons, according to a daily report from the LME today.

The losses represent nearly a 30 percent drop since the beginning of the year.

Furthermore, copper inventories in the Shanghai Futures Exchange and in the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange reached their lowest levels since October 31 both totaling 188,244 metric tons.

Copper futures for March delivery rose $51 or 0.66 percent to $7,751 a metric ton in London Mercantile Exchange trade. Earlier the red metal climbed as high as $7,974 a metric ton, the highest since October 16.

A rally in China, the world's largest consumer of copper, has brought benefits to the prices. Chinese imports of the red metal grew to 239,500 metric tons in January or 6.6 percent more compared to December's imports, said the national customs service today.

In electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division, Copper futures rose $8.10 or 2.29 percent to $3.620 a pound. Floor trade in New York is closed due to the President's Day holiday but will be start again tomorrow.

China Copper