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Copper rose to $7,000 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange for the first time since Nov. 10, after stockpiles declined for two straight days, suggesting demand for the metal is picking up. Zinc jumped 3.3 percent.

Inventory monitored by the exchange fell 0.4 percent to 157,250 tons, the LME said today in a report. The stockpiles booked and due for future deliveries to buyers, known as ``canceled warrants,'' jumped to the highest in five months.

``The rise in canceled warrants is very important and the stockpile data are positive,'' said Martin Squires, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in London.

Copper for delivery in three months on the LME gained $70, or 1 percent, to $7,050 a ton as of 10:03 a.m. local time. Prior to the LME stockpile report at 9 a.m., the contract dropped as much as 0.8 percent to $6,925 a ton. Prices have dropped 20 percent from a record $8,800 a ton on May 11.

Prices of copper, used in electrical wires and air conditioning tubes, advanced 71 percent in the past 12 months as supplies are below four days of global consumption, fuelling speculation that demand may exceed production this year. A slowdown in U.S. housing and lower imports of the metal to China triggered declines in prices in the past five months. Both countries are the world's largest users of the metal.

``China isn't a worry,'' said Squires, who last week visited the world's most populous country. More construction of buildings and infrastructure in the nation will continue to spur demand for copper, he added.

Copper production exceeded demand by 84,000 metric tons in the first eight months of the year, the Lisbon-based International Copper Study Group said this week in a report. World usage expanded by 3 percent in the period as growth in Europe, Japan and India offset declines in China and the U.S., the group said.

Zinc gained as much as $140, or 3.3 percent, to $4,430 a ton as inventory was at the lowest in 15 years. The exchange-monitored stockpiles declined 0.6 percent today to 88,950 tons, a level last seen in April 1991. The contract has more than doubled in the past year, trading at record $4,580 a ton Nov. 10.

Aluminum added $27, or 1 percent, to $2,705 a ton, nickel increased $170, or 0.5 percent, to $31,470. Lead rose 2.1 percent to $1,575 a ton and tin advanced $50 to $10,000 a ton.