Copper recovered on Friday from a five-month low as mine workers in Peru considered launching a new strike and some investors regarded the lower prices as good value. Copper had touched a five-month low on Thursday as inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses surged, fuelling worries about demand. "A bit of bargain hunting seems to be coming through given the extent of the falls ... and maybe a feeling that things got a bit overdone on the downside just as they did when we were rallying," Robin Bhar, head of metals research at Societe Generale in London, said.

"A few cracks may be appearing, but I don't think these are long lasting. I think we'll hold these key support levels around current prices and look to consolidate after this week's sharp falls." Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closed 0.8 percent higher at $5,585 a tonne. In the previous session, copper sank to $5,494, the lowest since January 4.

Copper prices got a boost from news that workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru were evaluating a new strike on Friday, a union spokesman said. Inventories in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses climbed by 36,800 tonnes, exchange data showed on Friday, bringing this week's surge to 40 percent. The LME price of the metal that needs huge amounts of energy to produce shed 0.5 percent to end at $1,903, as oil prices hovered close to five-month lows.

"This oil move (lower) might just tips the scales on the aluminium price ... it should mean enough to bring the sellers to the bearish party," Matt France, head of institutional metals sales in Asia for broker Marex Spectron, said in a note. LME nickel bounced 1.4 percent to close at $9,140 after touching $8,905, the weakest since June 24 last year. Lead fell 0.4 percent to finish at $2,181, while tin shed 1.4 percent to $19,575.

Copyright Reuters, 2017