* China November copper output at record high of 531,000 T * Euro rises to session high against dollar after German ZEW survey * Coming up: Two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting starts By Susan Thomas and Stephen Eisenhammer LONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Copper dipped on Tuesday as traders took profits and investors were rattled by political turmoil in Italy, but the metal was underpinned by a weaker dollar and faster growth in factory output in big metals consumer China. Investors are also focussing on a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday. It is expected to extend its asset purchase scheme and commit to buy $45 billion of U.S. debt per month. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange slipped 0.3 percent to $8,116 a tonne by 1116 GMT, trimming gains from the previous session when it hit its highest since Oct. 19 at $8,159 a tonne. It closed at $8,140 on Monday. Copper prices have risen more than 7 percent since mid November. "I think what we're seeing is new activity coming into the base metals from the long side. I don't think it's being done on the basis of fundamentals, it's much more technical in nature," said Barclays analyst Gayle Berry. "Fundamentally the feedback from China is still pretty soft. Everything apart from tin is in a surplus, stocks for most metals are rising, and there's not really much indication of any significant improvement in Chinese demand." China's copper imports rose 13.5 percent in November from the previous month. But the latest figures were boosted by the arrival of delayed shipments after a week-long holiday in October and overall demand for the metal remains weak. Imports had dropped 18.5 percent month-on-month in October because of the National Day holiday. China's production of refined copper also rose in November to a record high for the second straight month, which would also tend to dampen prices. China accounts for around 40 percent of the global refined copper demand. However, China's economy, the world's second largest, may be on a bumpy road to recovery. Economic data over the weekend showed factory output and retail sales rose at their fastest pace in eight months in November, fuelling hopes that the country is snapping out of a seven-quarter long slide. A weaker dollar also helped support base metals. The euro rose to a session high against the dollar after the German ZEW sentiment for December beat expectations. A weaker dollar makes metals priced in the currency less expensive for holder of other currencies. The euro found some support after Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti played down market fears over his decision to resign, saying there was no danger of a vacuum ahead of an election in the spring. Three-month tin also fell on Tuesday after a 6 percent surge on Monday that was driven by a 28 percent fall in shipments of refined tin from Indonesia, the world's top exporter, in November from the previous month. "We would expect tin prices to be fairly choppy over the next few days as long-term, technical funds buy dips and trade/macro players look to sell any rally," RBC said in a research note. "In looking at the Indonesian export numbers, we would point out that November 2011 saw a pretty dramatic drop in exports ) and then December saw heavy export volumes, so in fact there has actually been a year-on-year increase," it said in the note. ANZ also said that the breakout in tin looked unsustainable. "We think prices could ease back to $22,600/t from $23,090 last bid at the close on Monday," it said in a research note. Three-month tin fell 0.3 percent to $23,020 per tonne from $23,090 at the close on Monday. Battery material lead rose 0.5 percent to $2,309, and is within reach of a 2012 peak of $2,329 a tonne. Inventories of the metal in warehouses monitored by the LME fell 2,025 tonnes to 352,900 tonnes, the lowest in about a month. Three-month aluminium was at $2,137 per tonne from $2,131 at the close, z inc was at $2,095 from $2,085 a nd nickel was at $17,814 from $17,775. Metal Prices at 1130 GMT Comex copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices in yuan/T Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2011 Ytd Pct move COMEX Cu 369.25 -0.40 -0.11 344.75 7.11 LME Alum 2137.00 48.00 +2.30 2020.00 5.79 LME Cu 8116.75 -23.25 -0.29 7600.00 6.80 LME Lead 2308.25 10.25 +0.45 2034.00 13.48 LME Nickel 17815.00 40.00 +0.23 18650.00 -4.48 LME Tin 22960.00 1185.00 +5.44 19200.00 19.58 LME Zinc 2093.50 8.50 +0.41 1845.00 13.47 SHFE Alu 15280.00 -65.00 -0.42 15845.00 -3.57 SHFE Cu* 57850.00 -70.00 -0.12 55360.00 4.50 SHFE Zin 15440.00 -35.00 -0.23 14795.00 4.36 ** Benchmark month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07

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