Nearby Chinese copper futures rose on Tuesday on the Shanghai futures exchange, lifted by tight stocks and high cash prices. February copper clocked the largest gains, rising 200 yuan ($24.17) from Monday's close to end at 31,730 yuan. The contract expires on Friday. Cash copper prices were assessed at 32,400-32,700 yuan, edging up from 32,400-32,630 yuan on Monday.

Spot deals were sparse as end-users stayed on the sidelines, traders said. Most-active April copper rose 80 yuan from Monday's close to end at 29,550 yuan on Tuesday.

The March-April backwardation widened by 30 yuan to 1,030 yuan, in another indication of a tight prompt market. But contracts from June on fell, on analysts' expectations that copper prices will ease as 2005 passes.

Benchmark three-month copper prices on the London Metal Exchange traded at 3079.50 a tonne, unchanged from the same time the day before. A thin 102,980 lots changed hands in the Shanghai copper market on Tuesday, down from 157,188 lots on Monday.

Shanghai aluminium futures rose marginally, lagging slight gains on the LME. April aluminium rose 30 yuan from Monday's close, to end at 16,320 yuan on Tuesday. A total 6,692 lots changed hands, down from 11,682 lots on Monday.

Copyright Reuters, 2005