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To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (2217)	3/9/2007 7:20:04 PM
From: ms.smartest.person	Respond to of 3198

Copper Prices Fall Most in a Week on Rising Chinese Stockpiles By Millie Munshi March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices in New York fell by the most in a week after inventories jumped 15 percent in China, the world's biggest user, signaling slowing demand. Stockpiles in warehouses monitored weekly by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose to 46,913 metric tons, the highest since Sept. 7, from 40,886 tons on March 2. Copper prices have more than doubled in the past three years as consumption jumped in China, the world's fastest-growing major economy. ``The bulls in the copper pit are relying very heavily upon anticipated Chinese buying,'' said Dan Vaught, a commodity analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis. ``Having the stockpiles increase that much may give them pause.'' Copper futures for May delivery fell 4.95 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $2.784 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That marked the biggest percentage drop since March 2. In January, China imported more copper than in any month since June 2005. The increase in inventories may signal China's imports have been flowing into warehouses and aren't being used immediately by manufacturers, Vaught said. ``Copper consumption in China has been on an upward curve,'' said Andrew Silver, a trader at Natexis Commodity Markets Ltd. ``There are short-term hiccups to that.'' U.S. Unemployment The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell last month, easing concern that the economic slowdown is getting worse in the U.S., the world's second-biggest consumer of the metal. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg this month expect little acceleration in the economy in the first half. ``People are really worried about slowing economies,'' said Matthew Zeman, a metals trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. ``People are worried about future demand. and it's very much up in the air about where that's going to be.'' Still, prices will recover as demand picks up in China and the U.S., he said. The metal will rise to $3 a pound in the next six months, Zeman said. On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months fell $145, or 2.3 percent, to $6,130 a metric ton. The metal has fallen 30 percent from a record $8,800 a ton in May. A futures contract is an obligation to buy or sell a commodity at a fixed price for delivery by a specific date. To contact the reporter on the story: Millie Munshi in New York at mmunshi@bloomberg.net Last Updated: March 9, 2007 14:12 EST bloomberg.com