By Glenys Sim
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Copper futures dropped for a third day in Shanghai on expectations the world's largest consumer will buy less metal following stronger-than-expected imports last month.
China's refined copper imports jumped 49 percent to 211,527 metric tons in December from the previous month, customs data showed today. The economy expanded 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter, the slowest pace in seven years, the government said.
``I doubt such a big monthly figure is going to be repeated this year, as the economic data we're seeing goes from bad to worse,'' Wang Xiaoli, an analyst at Goldbull Futures Co., said from Shenzhen today. ``One can only hope such a strong import number means demand is still relatively steady and better than most people expect.''
Copper for April delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange tumbled as much as 4.7 percent to a two-week low of 25,950 yuan ($3,808) a metric ton, and ended the day at 26,420 yuan. London Metal Exchange copper was unchanged $3,220 a ton at 3:43 p.m. in Singapore.
China's economy grew 9 percent last year compared with the 13 percent expansion that pushed China past Germany in 2007 to become the world's third-biggest economy.
Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum was up 1.1 percent at $1,350 a ton, zinc fell 0.4 percent to $1,145 and nickel lost 1 percent to $10,800. Lead was up 0.7 percent at $1,095 a ton, while tin lost 0.9 percent to $11,500 a ton as of 3:46 p.m. Singapore time.
To contact the reporter for this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net
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