METALS-Copper climbs as supply concerns linger, dollar weakens

By Tom Daly

Oct 1 (Reuters) - Copper prices rose by more than 1% on Wednesday, supported by disruption to mine supply and a weaker dollar, as a U.S. government shutdown began.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was up 1.1% at $10,374.50 per metric ton as of 1600 GMT. It touched $10,399 earlier in the session, close to the 15-month high of $10,485 hit on September 25.

Markets in the world's biggest metals consumer China are closed from October 1 to 8 for the National Day holiday. The absence of Chinese market participants "could lead to increased volatility over the coming days, with market appetite appearing to be skewed to the upside," Sucden Financial said in a note.

Last week's force majeure by Freeport-McMoRan FCX.N at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia acted as an incentive to break away from rangebound conditions, but any significant price upside may be tempered by a key resistance level of $10,500 a ton, the brokerage added.

Potentially exacerbating the Grasberg outage, the union for supervisors at Antofagasta's ANTO.L Los Pelambres copper mine in Chile has rejected a new contract offer, which could lead to a strike, a union leader said on Tuesday.

Output from the world's biggest copper producer Chile fell by 9.9% year-on-year in August, the sharpest drop in more than two years.

Total copper stocks in the LME warehouse system MCUSTX-TOTAL have meanwhile fallen to 141,725 tons, their lowest since the start of August.

Base metal prices also found support from a weaker dollar, which makes metals more affordable for other currency holders. The dollar index =USD, which tracks the U.S. currency against six major peers, sank to a one-week low on Wednesday as the U.S. government shutdown unsettled markets.

Among other metals, aluminium CMAL3 rose 0.5% to $2,692.50 a ton, zinc gained 0.9% to $2,984.50, and lead CMPB3 was up 1% at $2,009. Nickel CMNI3 slipped 0.4% to $15,175, while tin CMSN3 gained 2% to $36,005, after earlier hitting $36,135, its highest since April 4.