Copper rises

Sydney/Melbourne

London copper climbed to its highest in more than two years on Wednesday, buoyed by a weaker dollar and talk that China´s appetite for refined metal could grow if it curbs scrap imports.

Expectations that China could look at banning some imports of copper scrap from the end of 2018 fuelled the rally in copper prices, said analyst Dan Morgan of UBS in Sydney. "If true, it could make a reasonable impact short-term," he said.

"These moves would make sense in the context of reforms going on in China, with moves to reduce pollution." China notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) last week that it would stop accepting shipments of rubbish such as waste plastic and paper as part of a campaign against "foreign garbage". London Metal Exchange copper had climbed 2.2 percent to $6,351 a tonne as of 0525 GMT, extending Monday´s 3.3-percent gains.