Copper prices were mixed on Monday, with the London contract easing while Shanghai prices hit a record high, as supply tightness offset uncertainty in the demand outlook.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dipped 0.3 percent to $9,043.50 per metric ton, while the most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.8 percent to 72,980 yuan ($10,139.91) a ton.
SHFE copper hit a record high of 73,440 yuan earlier in the session, buoyed by a potential output cut by smelters in top refined-copper producer China.
However, copper inventory in warehouses tracked by SHFE last week climbed to 286,395 tons, the highest since April 2020, as consumption in top-consumer China remained flat.
China reported its industrial output climbed an annual 7 percent over January and February, beating expectations, while retail sales rose 5.5 percent from a year earlier.
But real estate remained a worry as property investment in the same period fell 9 percent – albeit a slower decline from December.
LME aluminum eased 0.2 percent to $2,271 a ton, nickel fell 0.7 percent to $17,945, zinc eased 0.1 percent to $2,559, lead dropped 0.9 percent to $2,111.50 and tin edged down 0.3 percent at $28,600.
SHFE aluminum rose 0.3 percent to 19,270 yuan a ton, tin jumped 1.9 percent to 228,490 yuan, while nickel fell 0.3 percent to 140,230 yuan, zinc eased 0.1 percent to 21,400 yuan and lead lost 0.2 percent to 16,260 yuan.
