Copper May Drop on Speculation China Buying Less, Survey Shows

NEW YORK, July 31 -- Copper may decline on speculation that Chinese imports will shrink and metal booked to be taken out of London Metal Exchange-monitored warehouses will drop.

    Canceled warrants, or metal earmarked for delivery, fell to 11,900 metric tons yesterday, compared with as much as 84,000 tons on April 30.

    Thirteen of 16 analysts, investors and traders surveyed by Bloomberg, or 81 percent, said copper would drop next week. Three predicted higher prices. Copper for three-month delivery rose 1.4 percent this week to $5,602 a ton at 5:24 p.m. yesterday on the LME.

    Copper has jumped 82 percent this year, helped by demand from China, the world's biggest consumer of the metal.

    The weekly copper survey has forecast prices accurately in 24 of the past 48 weeks, or 50 percent of the time.

    This week's survey results: Bullish: 3, Bearish: 13

    (Source: Bloomberg)