By Glenys Sim
April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Copper fell for a third day in Asia, reversing an earlier advance, as some investors sold the metal on concern a second straight month of record imports by China, the world’s largest user, may create a market surplus.
Refined copper imports gained 10 percent from the previous month to 296,843 tons in March, the Beijing-based customs office said today, citing revised final data. Imports were 138 percent more than March last year, according to customs data.
“While imports were widely expected to be high, investors are beginning to wonder if Chinese demand is really strong enough to absorb all this metal,” Yuan Fang, a trader at Shanghai East Asia Futures Co., said today.
Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange fell as much as 2 percent to $4,415 a ton and traded at $4,441 at 3:10 p.m. Singapore time, extending the 6.2 percent decline in the past two days. The metal rose as much as 1.6 percent earlier.
July-delivery copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost as much as 3.1 percent to 36,230 yuan ($5,305) a ton, before trading at 36,400 yuan. Earlier the most-active contract gained as much as 2 percent.
China’s economy will expand 8.3 percent in 2009, from an earlier estimate of 6 percent, as the government’s 4 trillion- yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package spurs domestic demand and boosts investment, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said today.
“No matter how optimistic the market is about China’s demand, if imports continue to grow, we’re definitely going to face an oversupply situation,” Li Rong, chief analyst at Great Wall Futures Co., said from Shanghai.
Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum fell 0.8 percent to $1,448 a ton, zinc slid 3.3 percent to $1,427 a ton, and lead lost 2 percent to $1,433 a ton. Tin dropped 1.2 percent to $12,000 a ton, and nickel fell 0.5 percent to $11,449 a ton as of 3:13 p.m. Singapore time.
To contact the reporter on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at Gsim4@bloomberg.net
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