By Millie Munshi and Anna Stablum June 10 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices rose for a third straight day as reports signaled robust growth in China, the world’s biggest consumer of the metal used in pipes and wires. China’s exports jumped 48.5 percent in May from a year earlier, the most in six years, the customs bureau said today. Property prices in the country rose last month at a near-record pace, a separate report showed. Copper prices have more than tripled in the past eight years as demand surged in Asia. “The Chinese economy is still very strong, and signs of slowdown are incremental at best,” Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global Ltd., said in an e-mail. “Demand for copper in China remains quite healthy.” Copper for July delivery gained 5.1 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $2.901 a pound at 10:05 a.m. on the Comex in New York. The last time the commodity rose for three straight sessions was in mid-April. Before today, the metal had dropped 15 percent this year on concern that Europe’s debt crisis and China’s moves to cool its economy would stifle the global recovery. The metal for delivery in three months gained 1.6 percent to $6,441 a metric ton ($2.92 a pound) on the London Metal Exchange. Aluminum, nickel, lead, tin and zinc also gained. --Editors: Daniel Enoch, Steve Stroth. To contact the reporters on the story: Anna Stablum in London at astablum@bloomberg.net; Millie Munshi in New York at mmunshi@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net.

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