Copper rose for the fourth time in five days as Europe’s economy expanded faster than analysts forecast, enhancing prospects for raw-material demand. Gross domestic product in the 17-member euro area gained 0.8 percent in the first quarter from the fourth, the European Union’s statistics office said today. That was the fastest pace since the second quarter of 2010. Economists forecast 0.6 percent growth, according to a Bloomberg News survey. “Copper is a global play,” said Walter “Bucky” Hellwig, who helps manage $17 billion at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. “As long as there is global growth, demand will be increasing.” Copper futures for July delivery increased 1.3 cents, or 0.3 percent, to close at $3.9835 a pound at 1:10 p.m. on the Comex in New York. The price rose 0.2 percent this week. The metal has dropped 14 percent from a record $4.6575 on Feb. 15 on concern that China, the world’s biggest user, would seek to damp its economy to curb inflation. The worldwide economic recovery “indicates sustainably high copper demand that cannot even be harmed by China’s restrictive interest-rate policy or the economic weakness of certain countries,” Aurubis AG, Europe’s biggest smelter, said today in a statement. “The fundamental conditions that suggest a production deficit, and thus represent the basis for a high price level in 2011, are intact,” Hamburg-based Aurubis said. On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months climbed $58, or 0.7 percent, to $8,788 a metric ton ($3.99 a pound). Zinc also rose in London. Aluminum, lead, nickel and tin fell. To contact the reporters on this story: Yi Tian in New York at ytian8@bloomberg.net; Agnieszka Troszkiewicz in London at atroszkiewic@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net.

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