Copper in New York dropped for an eighth session on concern that supply may outpace demand in China, the world’s largest user, after domestic stockpiles climbed to the highest in more than two months. Shanghai copper inventories expanded for a third time last week, by 28 percent, to 35,389 metric tons, the Shanghai Futures Exchange said after the market closed on May 15. That’s the highest level since the week ended May 6. “What’s weighing on investors now is whether or not Chinese demand will be able to absorb the record imports”, said Zeng Chao, an analyst at Everbright Futures Co. in Shanghai. The metal for July delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the most-active contract, fell as much as 1.9 percent to $1.9790 a pound ($4,364 a ton), and traded at $1.9885 at 10:30 a.m. Singapore time. China’s copper imports reached a record 399,833 tons last month even as the country’s industrial output was lower-than- expected due to a deepening export slump. Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange fell as much as 2.4 percent to $4,343 a ton, after ending little changed in the past two days. The contract traded at $4,362 at 10:16 a.m. Singapore time. Copper for September delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the benchmark contract, lost as much as 3.3 percent to 34,700 yuan ($5,083) a ton, before trading at 35,060 yuan. “With record imports and rising domestic stockpiles, we see cash prices start to fall and this is weighing on the futures market,” said Zeng. Immediate-delivery copper in Changjiang, Shanghai’s biggest cash market, dropped to 36,600 yuan a ton May 15, the lowest since April 30. This narrowed the premium of cash over futures prices to about 760 yuan a ton from last week’s high of 1,530 yuan, a sign supply may be catching up with demand.

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