METALS-Copper rises on stronger demand prospects in China

April 7 (Reuters) - Copper rose on Tuesday with the prospect of stronger demand in China, even as investors remained cautious over the Middle East war as Washington's deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz loomed.

The benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.52% to $12,424 a metric ton as of 0305 GMT.

The most-active copper contract SCFcv1 on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 0.57% to 96,780 yuan ($14,069.11) a ton.

Copper stocks monitored by SHFE CU-STX-SGH have been declining since March 20, the exchange's weekly stock report showed.

They have declined more than 30% to 301,088 tons as of Friday from March 13, a sign of stronger demand as prices dropped over the growth and inflation fears instilled by the Iran war, and ahead of China's peak demand season.

The Yangshan copper premium SMM-CUYP-CN, a gauge of China's appetite for imported materials, held at $65 a ton as of Friday. It earlier hit $69, the highest since June 2025.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump's Tuesday 8 p.m. EDT (midnight GMT) deadline to the Iranian leadership to open the Strait of Hormuz nears. Iran pushed back against Trump's threats to rain "hell" on Tehran.

Brent futures LCOc1 sustained above $110 a barrel and the U.S. dollar =USD ticked upwards, putting pressure on the base metal complex and capping copper's gains.

Aluminium turned lower, though Gulf supply concerns persisted.

The London benchmark aluminium CMAL3 nudged 0.09% lower to $3,466.50 a ton, and the Shanghai most-traded contract SAFcv1 declined 0.53% to 24,575 yuan a ton.

Emirates Global Aluminium said on Friday that fully restoring production at its Al Taweelah smelter in the UAE, which was hit by an Iranian attack late last month, could take up to a year.

Elsewhere on the LME, zinc CMZN3 was unchanged, lead CMPB3 ticked 0.05% higher, nickel CMNI3 dropped 0.24% and tin CMSN3 nudged 0.03% lower.

Among other SHFE base metals, zinc SZNcv1 dipped 0.13%, lead SPBcv1 dropped 0.24%, nickel SNIcv1 lost 0.50% and tin SSNcv1 shed 0.18%.

Tuesday, April 7

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0750 France HCOB Serv, Comp PMIs March

0755 Germany HCOB Serv PMI March

0755 Germany HCOB Comp Final PMI March

0800 EU HCOB Serv, Comp Final PMIs March

0830 UK S&P Global PMI: Comp - output March

0830 UK Reserve Assets Total March

1230 US Durable Goods Feb

($1 = 6.8789 Chinese yuan renminbi)