LME: Slower growth in inventory growth Copper boosted by fund buying and short covering. The London Metal Exchange (LME) copper closed higher on Wednesday as stocks slowed down, fund buying provided support, and US producer Asarco applied for Bankruptcy protection. Three-month copper closed at $3,550 in open outcry trading on Wednesday and closed at $3,489 in late-night composite trading. The low of the Asian trading session on Wednesday was US$3,452.50. Dealers said that when the market began to decline, people became more excited and they had to make up for it this morning. The closing conditions were very good, although the stocks in the immediate vicinity increased significantly, but the increase was small today. If stocks continue to grow by 2,000-3,000 tons per day, copper will weaken, but if this is not the case, copper will rise. Wednesday's LME copper stocks increased by only 450 tons to 44,000 tons, and earlier this week it increased by nearly 6,500 tons. Another trader said that the market rebounded slightly and the fund still hopes to buy. Asarco filed for bankruptcy protection The world’s largest copper miner, the Mexican group, said on Wednesday that its subsidiary, American subsidiary Asarco, has filed for bankruptcy protection with a US court. Mexico Group stated that Asarco’s pursuit of bankruptcy protection is due to the high cost of production and “the uncertainty of the environmental burden is too heavy... and that the company's various units’ full strikes lasted for a long time. Asarco’s subsidiaries in Arizona The Texas copper miners started their strike on July 4 after the collapse of labor negotiations. The Bache Financial mining analyst said that this is more volatile, which means that the current operations are closing and it is necessary to wait for the Mexican group to take everything. To make it more clear, the Mexican group's share price surged 4% after the news came out.Three-month aluminum reported 1,888, up 39 dollars, and three-month nickel reported 14,680, up 430. Other basic metals also strengthened. The monthly lead rose by nearly 2% to 855 U.S. dollars, three-month zinc rose by 14 U.S. dollars to 1,282 yen, and the three-month zinc rose by 175 to 7,050/150.