China's refined copper imports in March hit the highest level ever, with total imports exceeding 200,000 tonnes for the first time, data from China's customs bureau showed.
Copper for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exchange fell to a session low of $7,820 a tonne before recovering to $7,900/7,910 at 0931 GMT, still down around 0.7 percent from Friday.
"Freeport McMoRan has reached a wage agreement with workers at its Indonesian Grasberg mine...This is going to ease the tight supply situation and thus weighs on copper," Dresdner Kleinwort said in a research note.
A four-day strike at the Indonesian Grasberg mine of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. lifted copper prices above $8,000 last week but conditions are now returning to normal, the company said on Monday.
"During the strike our production was below average but with the situation normalising, we hope that production can return to normal," Mindo Pangaribuan, a spokesman for Freeport said.
The company will meet copper and gold output targets this year at its Grasberg mine despite the stoppage, a senior official at Indonesia's mines and energy ministry said on Monday.
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