Reuters reported that London copper climbed after signs of growth revival in Germany pushed up the euro and buttressed the demand outlook for metals while buying from top consumer China extended a steady albeit modest seasonal recovery.

Three month copper on the London Metal Exchange climbed 1.01% to USD 7,525.25 per tonne by 0215 GMT extending gains of 0.6% from the previous session. The most traded August copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1.10% to CNY 54,920 per tonne.

LME copper prices are recovering from 8 month lows of USD 7,331.25 per tonne from last week but are still down by more than 5% this year.

Mr Matthew Fusarelli analyst at Sydney based consultancy AME said that "We expect copper prices to average at USD 7,500 for the Q2. The market is changing structurally. We expect a surplus of 300,000 tonnes this year. We don't expect prices to return to where they were at the start of the year."

LME copper prices reached a peak above USD 8,300 per tonne in early February but that was still down by nearly one fifth from a record high above USD 10,000 per tonne in 2011. Underpinning metals on Wednesday, the euro traded at its highest in nearly a month against the dollar.

German industrial output rose in February and industry leaders were cautiously optimistic about growth and investment in Europe's largest economy this year as long as there is no flare up in the euro zone crisis. China's annual rate of economic growth also likely nudged higher in the first three months of 2013 versus the last quarter of 2012.

Further supportive of metals, China's annual consumer inflation eased to 2.1% in March from February's 3.2% data showed below market forecasts and leaving policymakers room to keep monetary conditions loose to support a burgeoning economic recovery.

Reflecting improving supply, global miner Anglo American should produce 3 percent more copper this year than last in part as the promising but troubled Collahuasi mine turns the corner after a tough 2012.