March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Copper in London climbed, poised for a weekly gain, as a decline in stockpiles signaled demand for the industrial metal may be improving. The three-month delivery contract on the London Metal Exchange increased as much as 0.9 percent to $7,550 a metric ton, and traded at $7,545 a ton at 2:04 p.m. in Shanghai. The contract has gained 1.3 percent this week. The June contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed as much as 1.6 percent to 60,490 yuan ($8,862) a ton and last traded at 60,340 yuan. Copper inventories monitored by the London exchange have decreased 4.7 percent this month. A third consecutive drop in U.S. first-time jobless claims last week, and a government report showing consumer prices were unchanged in February, added to evidence the economy is recovering. The country is the world’s second-largest copper consumer after China. “A continuing fall in stockpiles indicates demand is recovering,” Lai Qiwen, an analyst at Guantong Futures Co., said from Beijing. Still, metals “remain vulnerable” due to a rebound in the dollar and concerns about monetary tightening in China, she said. The dollar strengthened against the euro after Germany expressed doubts about a rescue package for Greece’s debt crisis. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou set a one-week deadline for the European Union to craft a financial aid mechanism for the nation, before turning to International Monetary Fund. Land Prices Chinese companies owned by the central government should speed up plans to pull out of property development if it doesn’t form part of their main business, the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, a watchdog body, said yesterday. Private developers have criticized state-owned companies for bidding up land prices to records at public auctions, fuelling home price growth. The World Bank said in a report this week that China should raise interest rates to help contain the risk of a property bubble and allow a stronger yuan to damp inflation expectations. “Concerns for a rate hike have been more or less priced in,” Ji Guoqin, an analyst at Zhejiang Zhonda Futures Co. said from Hangzhou today. “We don’t expect a slowdown in metals demand from the property sector.” Aluminum was unchanged at $2,276 a ton in London, zinc added 0.2 percent to $2,339.25 a ton and lead rose 0.7 percent to $2,259.50 a ton. Nickel increased 0.4 percent to $22,840 and tin slid 0.3 percent to $17,750. --Li Xiaowei. Editor: Wendy Pugh To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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