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Copper futures in New York traded higher at the open on Friday, with inventory declines in Shanghai offsetting the recent three-week build in London stocks, sources said.

By 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT), copper for December delivery climbed 3.65 cents at $3.3280 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, just off its morning peak at $3.3310.

Spot November rose 3.10 cents to a morning peak at $3.3150.

COMEX copper volume at 10 a.m. was estimated at 3,000 lots.

The steady declines of copper stocks in Shanghai warehouses reflected the country's strong consumption growth, investment bank UBS said in a daily market comment.

"The country is a significant net importer of copper in various forms and although the government is keen to reduce the country's reliance on high-priced imports of refined metal, restocking will be required sooner than later which will help to support copper prices," they said.

Copper inventories monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 13 percent to 30,410 tonnes in the week ended Thursday, from 34,796 tonnes the previous week.

London Metal Exchange warehouse stocks added 1,925 tonnes to 141,400 tonnes on Friday, while COMEX stocks rose 72 short tons to 23,174 tons on Thursday.

Separately, some fabricators in eastern China have resumed their tolling business after a local customs bureau allowed them to import refined copper duty-free this week even though Beijing has not released clear policies on it yet.

On a net basis, China imported 46,767 tonnes of refined copper in September, an increased of 2 percent compared with August, but Chinese copper imports are still half of what they were in September last year.

Meanwhile, ongoing labor negotiations at Codelco's Norte division in Chile continued to be a supportive factor in the market.

The majority of unionized mine workers at Codelco Norte, the largest division of government-owned copper miner Codelco, said on Thursday they will not negotiate a preliminary agreement with the company, but a minority said they expected a company proposal soon.[nN02447770]

Negotiations at Codelco Norte follow a 25-day strike in August at Escondida, the world's largest copper mine.

On Wednesday, Escondida suspended operations for 24 hours due to an accident that killed one worker.

A spokesman for Escondida did not say whether the suspension had affected production at the mine.

LME three-months copper last traded $7,335 a tonne, up $90 from Thursday's kerb close.