Copper, aluminum and zinc are heading for a quarterly slump on concerns about the strength of the global economy. Three-month delivery copper declined 0.3 percent to $6,478 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange at 1:46 p.m. in Shanghai and has dropped about 17 percent this quarter. Aluminum was 0.2 percent up at $1,947 a ton and has tumbled 16 percent this quarter. Zinc rose 1.6 percent to $1,770 a ton, after plunging 25 percent in the quarter. Stocks sank from Shanghai to New York, with the MSCI World Index losing the most in 14 months, and two-year Treasury yields slid to a record low on concern over weakening growth in China and a slump in U.S. consumer confidence. Still, copper, which sets the pace for other industrial metals, is 7.7 percent up from an eight-month low on June 7. “We think the rebound in copper is over and the metal will resume a downturn on the faltering economy,” Huang Hongjun, an analyst at Jinrui Futures Co said from Shenzhen today. Japan, Asia’s biggest shipper of copper cathode, may export 8.5 percent less than previously forecast this year amid increased domestic demand and slowing Chinese demand growth, Pan Pacific Copper Co. said. China and the U.S. are the world’s largest consumers of the metal, used in wires and pipes. Yunnan Copper Industry Co. will close a copper furnace for maintenance from July 1 to April 1, 2011, the smelter said in exchange filing yesterday. While the overhaul will reduce the company’s copper and sulfuric acid production, Yunnan Copper said its output this year will match the company’s plan. Shanghai copper for October delivery slumped as much as 2.9 percent to 51,250 yuan ($7,547) a ton and traded at 51,720 yuan by the midday break. Shanghai aluminum slid 0.4 percent to 14,720 yuan and zinc fell 1.1 percent to 14,670 yuan. Lead for three-month delivery in London climbed 1.1 percent to $1,738 a ton, nickel rose 1.3 percent to $19,320 a ton and tin advanced 0.7 percent to $17,720 a ton. --Li Xiaowei. With reporting by Jae Hur, Yasumasa Song in Tokyo and Alfred Cang in Shanghai. Editors: Richard Dobson, Jarrett Banks. To contact the Bloomberg News staff on this story: Li Xiaowei in Shanghai at Xli12@bloomberg.net

Source