LME copper hits over 2-year high on solid China PMI data

London copper prices hit their highest in more than two years on Tuesday after data showed top consumer China saw a strong expansion in manufacturing activity in August.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange jumped as much as 1.2% to $6,748 a tonne, its highest since June 27, 2018.

The most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.6% to 52,320 yuan ($7,655.28) a tonne at 0219 GMT, having posted its longest monthly winning streak in 11 years in the previous session.

A private survey showed China's factory activity expanded at the fastest clip in nearly a decade in August, bolstered by the first increase in new export orders this year.

Copper output in Chile dropped 4.6% year-on-year in July to 467,913 tonnes, the second drop since the COVID-19 outbreak, official data showed.