It did not follow overnight losses on the London Metal Exchange (LME) as local players had anticipated falls on the LME and factored into Tuesday's trading, they said.

The key November 1998 contract added 40 to 16,390 yuan ($1,980) per tonne in early morning business. It opened at 16,320 yuan.

"There was little short-selling despite overnight LME losses as Shanghai players had acted ahead of the LME," one trader said.

LME copper closed at $1,614, down $18 from Monday's close, after dipping as low as $1,608 in lunchtime inter-office trade.

But trading was slow in the local red metal market with most players wary of the Japanese yen's weakness, traders said.

They said they expected local copper contracts to consolidate around the lows for the rest of the session.

In Shanghai, the spot copper prices edged up to 15,600 yuan from 15,500 on Tuesday.

Aluminium has only10 tonnes of the August 1998 contract traded in early morning business, down 200 yuan to 12,600.