Copper climbed in Asia, paring the week’s losses, as a recovery in global equities eased concerns about a deepening global recession and waning metals demand. The metal advanced after Asian stocks jumped 2.9 percent. Still, prices are down 1.7 percent this week, after Chinese imports climbed to the highest since at least 2003 amid a slump in industrial production and exports, raising speculation the world’s biggest user may be oversupplied. “Demand is China is still not what it used to be and the import numbers are terrible in light of this,” Yang Zhenqiang, an analyst at Yide Futures Brokerage Co., said from Tianjin. London Metal Exchange copper for delivery in three months gained as much as 2.2 percent to $3,660 a metric ton, and traded at $3,658 by 10:22 a.m. Singapore time. The metal is down for the first week in three as the MSCI World Index heads for the biggest weekly increase since November. Copper for June delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 1.4 percent to 29,160 yuan ($4,265) a ton. China’s industrial production rose 3.8 percent in January and February from a year earlier, slowing from a 5.7 percent increase in December, as exports slid at a record pace, government data showed this week. Imports of copper and the metal’s products jumped 42 percent in February from the previous month to 329,311 tons. Inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses in South Korea, the closest location to China, have fallen for 15 straight days and are less than half their levels at the start of the year. Shanghai copper stockpiles rose for the first week in three to the highest in more than seven months last week. The exchange releases this week’s data after the market close. Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum rose 1.1 percent to $1,355 a ton, zinc gained 0.4 percent to $1,230 a ton, and nickel added 2 percent to to $9,650. Lead and tin hadn’t traded as of 10:35 a.m. in Singapore.

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