By Silvia Antonioli LONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Copper tumbled to one-month lows on Monday as concern about policymakers' ability to permanently solve Europe's debt crisis and worries about economic and demand slowdown spurred investor selling. A stronger dollar also weighed on metals, making dollar-priced commodities costlier for holders of other currencies. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange was trading at $8,682 a tonne at 1405 GMT from $8,821 at the close on Friday. The metal used in power and construction touched $8,620 a tonne, its lowest since August 11, after comments from the European Central Bank reinforced euro zone growth fears. Other industrial metals followed copper down. Tin slid to a five-week low and zinc to a one-month trough. "There are fears about the slowing economy, fears about debt, fears about default, and we are not having coordinated multilateral actions being taken" said analyst Robin Bhar of Credit Agricole. "A second factor has been the sharp fall of the euro on the back of those fears, which is putting pressure on market sentiment. Fears have never gone away, and from time to time they resurface." Worries about a Greek default gathered pace after the resignation of Juergen Stark, Germany's top official at the ECB, because of his opposition to the bank's controversial bond-buying programme. In addition to this, the OECD's leading indicator for the world economy fell for a fourth straight month in July, adding to a pessimistic broader assessment of economic prospects that it made last week. Uncertainty over copper demand growth also came from a report that Chile's Codelco , the world's top copper producer, had said some of its European and U.S. clients asked to cancel orders due to fears there will be less demand amid global financial turmoil. "Clearly this feeds directly into fears about slowing demand. It's not good for the market, although the fact that this happened just before the mating season makes me think this may be a move from consumers to try and get better prices," Bhar said. Copper consumers and producers typically start negotiating prices for the next year around October, every year. Even an improving imports number from China failed to lift the sentiment. China's copper imports rose 11 percent from a month earlier to 340,398 tonnes in August, official customs data said. TIGHT SUPPLY Copper stocks in LME-approved warehouses fell only 100 tonnes to 465,125 tonnes and remained about a third higher than in December 2010, data showed. Inventories of copper in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 5.1 percent last week to 113,300 tonnes. "This hints at some easing of tight conditions in the copper market," Credit Suisse said in a note. "However, the risk of a strike at the world's third-largest copper mine in Indonesia could quickly tighten concentrate supplies again." Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold's Indonesia mine workers are set to strike from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 unless the firm meets their demands for a pay rise. Three-month aluminium was trading at $2,363 a tonne from $2,367 on Friday. "Sure, aluminium is going to fall in line with other metals but factors such as higher production costs and robust demand mean the downside may be a bit more supportive," Bhar said. "After all, the transport and packaging industry are going to increase their aluminium consumption." Low interest rates and a global economy on the brink of another recession mean the bank financing deals that have locked up most aluminium stocks in warehouses will remain intact and inflate premiums for already struggling consumers. Tin was trading at $23,200 from $23,505 on Friday, and zinc at $2,160 from $2,185. Battery material lead was trading at $2,392 from $2,450 and nickel , at $21,086 from $21,150. Metal Prices at 1349 GMT Comex copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices in yuan/T Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2010 Ytd Pct move COMEX Cu 390.85 -8.40 -2.10 444.70 -12.11 LME Alum 2355.00 -12.00 -0.51 2470.00 -4.66 LME Cu 8665.00 -156.00 -1.77 9600.00 -9.74 LME Lead 2404.00 -46.00 -1.88 2550.00 -5.73 LME Nickel 20875.00 -275.00 -1.30 24750.00 -15.66 LME Tin 23050.00 -455.00 -1.94 26900.00 -14.31 LME Zinc 2155.00 -30.00 -1.37 2454.00 -12.18 SHFE Alu 17485.00 50.00 +0.29 16840.00 3.83 SHFE Cu* 67620.00 -100.00 -0.15 71850.00 -5.89 SHFE Zin 17125.00 55.00 +0.32 19475.00 -12.07 ** Benchmark month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07 (Additional reporting by Pratima Desai; Editing by Alison Birrane)

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