The spot copper price enjoyed another strong session on Tuesday adding more than 2% to its gains yesterday to a high of $3.32 a pound.

By early afternoon the red metal was trading at $3.30 on Comex in New York, up 2.2% or $0.0725 from Monday's close.

The move higher on Tuesday amid a generally strong day for mining and metals was driven by good manufacturing numbers from China and the UKon Monday followed by data showing surprisingly strong industrial activity in the Eurozoneand continued recovery in the US out on Tuesday.

UK order books and output grew at their fastest pace in almost two decades in August while euro-zone manufacturing data released Monday the recovery in Germany spreading to laggards Spain and Italy.

On Monday, official Chinese non-manufacturing purchasing managers data dipped slightly but new orders showed a sharp increase setting up strong growth over the coming months according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The non-official index of the manufacturing sector out last week also provided a pleasant surprise to markets, rising above 50 for the first time in four months, indicating expansion.

US manufacturing also showed improvement. While top line growth shrunk, inventories fell dramatically with demand outstripping available supply last month.

Copper gained 4.5% in August, a second month of gains, and hit a two-month intra-day high of $3.38 in the middle of last month. Copper has also rallied more than 8.5% from the intra-day low of $3.03 hit at the end of July.