Copper Drops as China Said to Target Slower Growth in Exports

            Copper fell in London from a two-week high after a report that the government in China, the biggest consumer of the metal, is aiming for weaker growth in exports this year.

China is targeting export growth of about 7.5 percent in 2014, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said, setting sights lower than last year’s pace. Passenger-vehicle sales in the country rose less than analysts estimated last month, adding to signs that the world’s second-biggest economy is slowing.

“Our focal worry for copper is Chinese growth, which is on a relentless downward slide, and most of the economic data is very discouraging for market participants,” Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Capital Markets Ltd. in Dublin, said by e-mail today.

Copper for delivery in three months retreated 0.6 percent to $7,113 a metric ton by 9:48 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange after closing yesterday at the highest level since Jan. 24. Copper for delivery in March fell 0.5 percent to $3.239 a pound on the Comex in New York.

Wholesale deliveries of cars, multipurpose vehicles and SUVs came to 1.8 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said, below the 1.88 million-unit median estimate of four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Economic growth in China will drop to 7.4 percent this year, economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg show.

Copper gained yesterday after Chinese trade figures exceeded estimates and data showed imports of unwrought copper and copper products into the nation surged to a record 536,000 tons in January.

“Yesterday’s trade balance was heartening, but we need to see a lot more of this kind of data before we can be poised about Chinese growth,” said Aslam at Ava Capital.

Copper stockpiles monitored by the LME, down 18 percent this year to a 13-month low, fell for a 20th session to 300,675 tons, daily data showed. Orders to remove the metal from warehouses declined 0.8 percent to 175,000 tons.

Aluminum and nickel slid in London. Tin, zinc and lead rose. - Bloomberg