FRANKFURT, May 07, 2010 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) -- Europe's largest copper producer Aurubis AG's (NDA.XE) chief executive, Bernd Drouven, said Friday that the recent drop in copper prices amid concerns about the Greek debt crisis appears exaggerated, adding that demand for copper remains robust.

"We think that the volatility of copper prices seen in the past few weeks is exaggerated," Drouven said in a conference call to journalists.

He said that "physical demand" is still intact, adding that the decline in price isn't justified.

The company earlier Friday said the average copper price in the January to March quarter was $7,243 a metric ton. However, prices have fallen considerably below $7,000/ton in recent weeks amid concerns about the Greek debt crisis and slowing economic growth in China.