Copper fell in London as inventories at a four-year high signaled demand expansion is slowing. Tin declined to a 23-month low. Inventories rose 700 metric tons to 328,000 tons, the highest since Feb. 11, 2004, according to London Metal Exchange figures. Growth in world usage of the metal in the first nine months of this year lagged gains in output, according to the Lisbon-based International Copper Study Group. Copper for delivery in three months retreated $32 to $2,928 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange as of 11:31 a.m. local time. The metal has declined 56 percent this year. “There are big guns out there who think copper is going to $2,200 and it’s a brave person who stands in their way,” said David Thurtell, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in London. “LME stocks have risen by 200,000 tons in the last eight months and in the last two they’ve risen 120,000 tons.” Global refined copper usage was almost 13.7 million tons in January through September, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier while output climbed 3.1 percent to 13.8 million tons, a Copper Study Group report yesterday showed. Supplies beat usage by 120,000 tons in this year’s period, and 49,000 tons in September, according to the report. “It’s ancient history,” Thurtell said. “It tells you what happened before the financial crisis.” Central banks from China to the U.S. and European Union have cut interest rates, aiming to stem damage from the most severe financial downturn since the Great Depression. The U.K. economy shrank 0.6 percent in the third quarter, the most since 1990. The Bank of England has lowered its benchmark interest rate to the lowest since 1951. Copper Inventories Inventories of copper are building in Europe and the U.S. and falling in Asia. They are the highest since September 2003 in Europe, making up 48 percent of the total, and the highest since June 2004 in the U.S. Tin dropped as much as $25 to $10,280 a ton, the lowest since Jan. 10, 2007, after inventories increased 125 tons to 7,775 tons, bringing the gain to 63 percent in the past six sessions. Prices may fall to $9,004 a ton, the lowest since October 2006, after slipping below “trendline support,” Barclays Capital said last week. Aluminum rose $8 to $1,566 a ton and lead advanced $2 to $910 a ton. Zinc fell $10 to $1,170 a ton and nickel declined $75 to $10,225 a ton.

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