June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Copper fell in London for a second straight day because of concern that mining companies are boosting output to catch up with a surge in demand for the metal, which is used in power cables and plumbing.

Miners will increase output by 1.3 million metric tons this year, said Simon Thompson, executive director at Anglo American Plc, the world's second-biggest mining company. That's equal to about 9 percent of last year's total output. Average copper cash prices this year will be unchanged at $1.30 a pound, Anglo said, after they gained 41 percent in 2004.

``This year we are seeing the inevitable supply side response coming through,'' Thompson told an investors seminar in London yesterday.

Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange dropped $10, or 0.3 percent, to $3,267 a metric ton as of 8:44 a.m. local time. The metal touched $3,338 a ton on April 12, the highest since copper started trading on the LME in its currant format in 1986.

Supplies of copper outstripped demand by 24,000 tons in January and February, compared with a deficit of 236,000 tons a year earlier, the International Copper Study Group said in a report last month. London-based Anglo is among companies that are increasing output. The global production shortfall last year reached 850,000 tons, JPMorgan Chase & Co. estimated.

Copper prices fell even after production was suspended at the Cerro Colorado mine in northern Chile because of a power cut caused by an earthquake. Cerro Colorado produced 88,500 metric tons of finished copper in the nine months ended March 31, according to its owner, BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company.

Among other metals for delivery in three months on the LME, aluminum rose $3, or 0.2 percent, to $1,705 a ton. Zinc declined $1 to $1,277 and nickel slipped $155 to $16,100. Lead rose $2 to $965 and tin was unchanged at $7,625.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Casey in London at scasey4@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 14, 2005 04:01 EDT