Copper climbed for a second day in New York on speculation economic growth is strong enough to boost raw materials demand. U.S. factory orders probably advanced 2 percent in July after declining 0.8 percent the month before, economists said before a Commerce Department report today. The U.S. is the second-biggest user of copper after China. “The market’s attention is refocused back on fundamentals, which for copper are supportive for higher prices,” Gayle Berry, an analyst at Barclays Capital in London, said by phone. Chinese demand “is still very strong.” Copper for December delivery climbed 3.85 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $4.18 a pound by 8:34 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Copper for three-month delivery rose $47, or 0.5 percent, to $9,207 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Prices in New York are still heading for a monthly decline of 7.1 percent, the first monthly drop since May. The metal is down 6 percent for this year. The Commerce Department report is due at 10 a.m. New York time. Copper advanced after a report yesterday that showed output in Chile, the biggest producer, slumped 18 percent to about 373,500 tons in July from a year before. Output was curbed by a two-week strike at the country’s Escondida copper mine, the world’s largest. Production at the mine fell 14 percent in the first half from a year ago, Minera Escondida Ltda. said Aug. 24. Copper Output Peru’s copper production fell for a fourth month in July on declines at the country’s largest mines, the government said Aug. 28. Output slid 5.7 percent to 100,478 tons as production dropped at mines operated by Southern Copper Corp. and Xstrata Plc. “The price of copper is still finding strong support from problems on the production side,” Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, said in a report today. “Relatively small bottlenecks on the producer side could lend positive impetus to the price of copper already.” Copper stockpiles monitored by the LME fell for a second day, declining 550 tons to 463,825 tons, exchange data showed today. Orders to draw the metal from warehouses, known as canceled warrants, dropped 1,900 tons, or 25 percent, to 5,800 tons, the lowest level since Feb. 10, 2010. Canceled warrants for aluminum climbed 13,800 tons, or 4.4 percent, to 324,900 tons, on increases in Detroit. Global aluminum inventories fell 10,275 tons to 4.63 million tons. Lead for three-month delivery on the LME declined 0.7 percent to $2,540 a ton. The price rallied 12 percent since Aug. 22, climbing above its 100-day and 200-day moving averages yesterday. Cash metal traded at a $9.50 premium to the contract for three-month delivery, the biggest so-called backwardation since June 1 and signaling limited supplies. Aluminum, zinc, nickel and tin rose in London. To contact the reporter on this story: Agnieszka Troszkiewicz in London at atroszkiewic@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

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