Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) Jumps on China Copper Imports

Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) is a big gainer so far today on the news China imports of copper have risen.

Other copper producers like Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) also got a nice bump from the apparent boost in copper demand.

The March copper contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while off session highs, still soared six cents to $4.60. Since January 2010, copper prices have surged by almost 40 percent.

Copper prices had hit a record of $4.62 earlier in trading.

Cliffs was trading at $91.99, gaining $4.48, or 5.12 percent, as of 12:36 PM EST. Freeport-McMorRan was trading at $56.00, up $2.48, or 4.63 percent.