June 19 (Bloomberg) -- Copper declined in Asia, heading for its first decline in five weeks, as a dollar rally damped demand for commodities and on concern China may be oversupplied. The metal used in construction and automobiles is down 4.8 percent this week as the dollar gained against 14 of the 16 major currencies. China’s copper imports climbed to record levels for the fourth month and local stockpiles rose for a second week. “The pace of commodity price rises has slowed in the past week as some previously positive macro-economic trends, notably the weakening of the U.S. dollar, have reversed,” Barclays Capital analysts led by Gayle Berry, said in a note e-mailed today. Three-month delivery copper on the London Metal Exchange fell as much as 0.5 percent to $4,950 a metric ton, and traded at $4,960 at 11:31 a.m. Singapore time. The metal dropped to a two-week low of $4,880 a ton June 17. September-delivery copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was little changed at 39,180 yuan ($5,729) a ton, down 5.3 percent this week. Copper for September delivery in New York was down 1 percent at $2.259 a pound, down 5.1 percent this week. China’s imports of the metal and its products increased 6 percent in May from April to 422,666 tons, the customs office said June 11. Inventories of copper in Shanghai warehouses expanded for a second week to 60,647 metric tons last week, the highest since the week of March 20, 2008. The exchange will release this week’s data after the Shanghai market closes today. “The metals are struggling for direction,” said Berry. “On the one hand a brightening macro picture is cause for optimism, while on the other speculation over a pending slowdown in Chinese demand is cause for concern.” Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum was down 0.2 percent at $1,638 a ton and nickel was 0.7 percent lower at $14,910 a ton. Zinc added 0.3 percent to $1,568 a ton, lead gained 0.3 percent to $1,680 a ton and tin rose 0.3 percent to $15,000 a ton as of 11:34 a.m. in Singapore.

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