July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Copper fell in New York and London as an unexpected drop in Japanese machinery orders raised concern that demand will take longer than expected to revive. Orders, an indicator of spending by companies in the next three to six months, declined 3 percent in May from April, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. An unexpected decline in U.K. house prices reinforced concern that Group of Eight officials meeting in Italy have more to do to drag the global economy out of a recession. Disappointing economic data and “the advent of the slow summer season” weighed on metals prices, Robin Bhar, an analyst at Credit Agricole SA’s Calyon unit in London, said in a report. “Uncertainty is intensifying.” Copper for September delivery slid 1 percent to $2.205 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division as of 8:30 a.m. Copper for three-month delivery fell 0.7 percent to $4,847 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, its fifth straight decline. While copper has climbed 58 percent this year on stockpiling by China, commodities have dropped from a record this time last year after the first global recession since World War II. Leaders from the G8 most-industrialized nations meet today to tackle shrinking economies and rising unemployment. “There has been plenty of less negative news and use of the now-worn phrase ‘green shoots,’ but little information to judge the magnitude and speed of recovery going forward,” Bhar said. German Industry German industrial output rose 3.7 percent from April, more than expected, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Manufacturing output rose 5.1 percent and production of intermediate goods increased 4.3 percent, “Whether that implies a pickup in real consumption growth over the next six months still remains to be seen in Europe,” Max Layton, a Macquarie Bank Group Ltd. analyst in London, said by phone. Among other LME metals for three-month delivery, aluminum fell 1.6 percent to $1,593 a ton. Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa Inc.’s chief executive officer, said he’s “very optimistic” about sales as the Chinese economy and U.S. automotive industry start to recover. The company is the biggest U.S. producer of the lightweight metal, used in packaging and machinery. “China is clearly out of the woods,” Kleinfeld said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Moscow yesterday. “Its economy has come back and is growing again.” Tin Positions Tin slipped 0.7 percent to $14,050 a ton. Stockpiles monitored by the LME rose to 17,695 tons, the highest since August 2003 and more than double the level at the start of 2009. Exchange figures from July 6 show one long position, or bet on a rising price, exceeding 40 percent of tin futures scheduled to expire in September. There are six short positions, or bets on a price drop, for the same month, each accounting for between 5 percent and 9 percent of outstanding contracts. Nickel fell 0.9 percent to $15,506 a ton, lead dropped 1.3 percent to $1,638 a ton, and zinc shed 1.4 percent to $1,547 a ton.

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