BLBG: Copper Heads for Longest Slump Since 2007 on China Supply Gains
Copper prices dropped for the seventh straight session in New York, heading for the longest slump since December 2007, as inventories gained in China, the world’s biggest metal user.
This week, stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped 28 percent, the third consecutive gain. A report showed China’s industrial production grew less than estimated in April, spurring concern the economic rebound will be subdued. Copper tumbled 7.3 percent in the previous six sessions.
“Concerns about Chinese demand seem to be figuring more prominently in the equation,” Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global Ltd. in Darien, Connecticut, said in a report.
Copper futures for July delivery fell 2.2 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $2.005 a pound at 9:28 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The last seven-session slump ended on Dec. 18, 2007.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months dropped $40, or 0.9 percent, to $4,405 a ton ($2 a pound). The price reached a record $8,940 on July 2.
