Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Copper rose for the first day in six in London after Japan said it will buy bonds issued by Europe’s financial-aid funds, helping to ease concern about the fiscal health of nations including Ireland. Japan is joining China, the world’s biggest copper user, in aiding Europe as it battles against a debt crisis that prompted bailouts of Ireland and Greece. Concern that the crisis might derail economies, harming usage of commodities, weighed on copper in 2010’s second quarter. European equities and U.S. index futures climbed today. “Japan’s decision to buy euro-area bonds is likely to have little impact on underlying commodity-market fundamentals, but it appears to have supported broader risk appetite,” said Daniel Major, an analyst at RBS Global Banking & Markets in London. Copper for delivery in three months climbed $109, or 1.2 percent, to $9,430 a metric ton at 10:14 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Copper for delivery in March added 1.1 percent to $4.311 a pound on the Comex in New York. All of the six main metals traded on the LME gained, led by nickel. “Most players still remain bullish on copper,” Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London, said by telephone. Bailout Bonds Japan will use its foreign-exchange reserves to buy more than a fifth of bonds to be issued this month by the European Financial Stability Facility, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said. The EFSF plans to raise up to 16.5 billion euros ($21.3 billion) this year and 10 billion euros in 2012 to help fund the Irish bailout, the European Commission said last month. Portugal, Spain and Italy are preparing to sell debt this week amid a surge in bond yields. Copper will average $9,200 a ton this year, 22 percent higher than in 2010, Standard Bank Plc said in a report yesterday. It predicted an average price next year of $10,000. “Copper has not yet got into five figures, but this landmark cannot be far away,” Leon Westgate, an analyst at the bank in London, said in the report. “Ongoing economic recovery will underpin robust demand, which, combined with supply shortfalls in many markets, will create a tight fundamental backdrop. Meanwhile, liquidity remains high and investor demand for commodities is going from strength to strength.” Supply Gap Copper consumption will outpace supply by 385,000 tons this year, with the gap widening to 562,000 tons in 2012, according to Standard Bank. It also projected supply shortfalls for lead and tin. LME copper stockpiles resumed their increase today after falling yesterday for the first time in a month, daily exchange figures showed. Inventories climbed 1,350 tons to 379,650 tons, the highest level since September. Stocks fell 25 percent last year, the first annual decline since 2004. Orders to draw copper from LME inventories, or canceled warrants, rose 700 tons to 35,025 tons, the highest level since July, after jumping 24 percent yesterday. Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc are processing more copper from their Collahuasi mine in Chile at Xstrata’s Altonorte smelter as they seek to overcome port bottlenecks, the mine said yesterday. Collahuasi, the world’s third-largest copper mine, is maintaining force majeure, a contract clause permitting companies to miss deliveries, on its shipments. Aluminum for three-month delivery on LME rose 0.7 percent to $2,505 a ton. Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. producer of the lightweight metal, yesterday reported its highest profit in nine quarters on higher prices. Demand growth in China will slow because of government steps to curb inflation, Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld said on a conference call. Tin rose 0.8 percent to $26,495 a ton and nickel climbed 2.4 percent to $24,450 a ton. Lead gained 0.7 percent to $2,608 a ton and zinc added 1.1 percent to $2,405 a ton. --With assistance from Glenys Sim in Singapore and Matt Craze in Santiago. Editors: Dan Weeks, John Deane. To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in Moscow at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter@bloomberg.net.

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