Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Copper fell to a two-month low in London after a decline in imports to China, the biggest buyer of the metal. Tin advanced.

Chinese imports of copper and copper products fell 5.6 percent to 204,424 tons in October, the Beijing-based customs office said today. Copper prices have dropped 16 percent since early October on signs of slowing demand in the U.S. and Europe.

``Buyers haven't been ramping up purchases as much as the market had been hoping,'' said Gayle Berry, a metals analyst at Barclays Capital in London. ``We've seen weakness in Europe as well due to a slowdown in European construction in Spain.''

Copper for delivery in three months declined $80, or 1.1 percent, to $6,950 a metric ton as of 4:52 p.m. in London, after earlier trading at $6,790, the lowest since Aug. 17.

Inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange rose 3,425 metric tons, or 2 percent, to 176,200 metric tons, the highest since April 10, according to the exchange's daily report today. U.S. demand slowed as a housing recession and credit crisis ignited by the collapse of the subprime-mortgage market reduced demand for copper pipes and wiring in homes.

``There is ongoing concern about the state of the credit crunch and how that may drag down economic growth,'' said William Adams, an analyst at London metals information Web site Basemetals.com. ``Stockpiles are up and that doesn't help.''

Zinc stockpiles monitored by the LME rose 1 percent to 83,875 tons, the highest since May 14 and above the average 82,037 for the past 12 months. The three-month zinc contract declined $80, or 2.9 percent, to $2,645. It earlier fell to $2,595, the lowest since March 31, 2006.

Zinc Stockpiles

China's copper imports may rebound as the cost of copper in the country is more than $1,000 a ton above LME prices, compared with an average premium of $845 in October, Berry said.

``We're positive on Chinese metals demand,'' she said. ``It will vary from month to month.'' For the first 10 months this year, imports were 39 percent higher than a year earlier.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data show growth in metals demand may slow because of a deterioration in economies outside of China, Macquarie Bank Ltd. analysts including Jim Lennon and Adam Rowley wrote in a report today.

``The OECD lead indicator has dropped sharply over the past three months,'' they wrote. Chinese demand in the next six months ``may not fully offset the projected broad-based deterioration in growth across the main OECD countries.''

Aluminum decreased $25 to $2,585. Aluminum output in the U.S., the world's second-largest producer, increased in October to an annual rate of 2.63 million tons from 2.23 million tons a year earlier, the Aluminum Association in Arlington, Virginia, said on Nov. 9 in a report.

Lead fell $56 to $3,481 and Nickel slid $150 to $33,700.

``We continue to believe that from a fundamental standpoint the third quarter period was about as bearish as could possibly be the case for nickel,'' Michael Jansen, an analyst at JPMorgan Securities Ltd. wrote in a report today.

Tin gained $30 to $16,980 a ton

To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net or

Last Updated: November 12, 2007 11:59 EST