Copper declined, paring a weekly gain, on speculation stockpiles of the metal may increase further in China, the world’s largest user of the metal. Copper for delivery in three months lost 0.3 percent to $8,539 metric ton by 1:57 p.m. Singapore time on the London Metal Exchange, poised for a weekly gain of 0.5 percent. The June-delivery contract rose 0.6 percent to 60,780 yuan a ton ($9,612 per ton) on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Metal stockpiles registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange have more than doubled to 224,781 tons this year, the highest since at least 2003. The bourse will update the data at about 3:30 p.m. local time. “There’s concern about copper stockpiles in China,� Tetsu Emori, a fund manager at Astmax Co. Ltd. in Tokyo, said today by phone. “A report that shows declines may help boost prices.� Copper has gained more than 12 percent this year, rebounding from a 21 percent slump in 2011, on signs U.S. economy is recovering. The metal stored in Chinese bonded warehouses, which don’t disclose their stockpiles, is about 500,000 tons, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. On the London Metal Exchange, inventories of the metal tracked by the LME have tumbled 28 percent to 267,750 tons this year. May-delivery copper fell 0.4 percent at $3.8825 a pound on Comex in New York. Aluminum and zinc were little changed at $2,250.25 and $2,089.25 a ton, respectively. Lead advanced 0.2 percent to $2,126.25 and tin climbed 0.8 percent to $23,890. Nickel was unchanged at $19,380. To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in Singapore at cchanjaroen@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net.

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