Copper Drops in New York as Chinese Imports of Metal Fall for Third Month

Copper prices fell for the first time in six sessions after a report showed imports fell in China, the world’s biggest metals buyer.

Shipments of copper and products into China declined 17 percent from a month earlier to 328,231 metric tons in June, the customs bureau said July 10. Imports have fallen for three straight months. Copper prices have declined 10 percent this year on concern demand would slow.

“The import numbers out of China were discouraging,” said Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist at brokerage Lind- Waldock in Chicago. “There’s a lot of uncertainty for copper.”

Copper futures for September delivery slid 4.45 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $3.009 a pound on the Comex in New York.

Last week, futures jumped 4.7 percent after stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange fell. Inventories dropped 0.4 percent today to 435,250 metric tons, the lowest since Nov. 27.

“Right now, I’m more concerned about demand and the economic situation than supply,” Klopfenstein said.

Copper fell 17 percent in the second quarter partly on concern that China’s moves to cool its economy will sap demand. If the country slows “aggressively,” it “may become a problem,” said Nic Brown, an analyst at Natixis Commodity Markets Ltd. in London.

“Imports were certainly weaker than I’d expected,” Brown said. A report this week may show they country’s growth in the second quarter was “substantially slower than the first quarter,” he said.

Copper for delivery in three months declined 1.9 percent to $6,630 a ton ($3.01 a pound) on the London Metal Exchange.

Aluminum, nickel, lead, tin and zinc prices also dropped.

To contact the reporters on the story: Anna Stablum in London at astablum@bloomberg.net; Millie Munshi in New York at mmunshi@bloomberg.net

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