Copper prices fell from a 31-month high in New York on speculation that China, the world’s biggest metal consumer, may raise interest rates to slow economic growth and inflation.
China advanced the release of November economic figures to Dec. 11 from Dec. 13, fueling speculation that the central bank may raise borrowing costs for the second time in two months. Earlier, copper reached $4.1545 a pound, the highest since May 2008, amid shrinking inventories and increasing investor demand before the introduction of funds backed by physical metal.
“Commodity prices will be adversely affected” by a rate increase in China, Alex Heath, the head of industrial-metal trading at Royal Bank of Canada Europe Ltd. in London, said in a report.
Copper futures for March delivery slipped 1.35 cents, or 0.3 percent, to settle at $4.087 at 1:19 p.m. on the Comex in New York, halting an eight-session rally of 9 percent. Since July 1, the price has jumped 42 percent.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months fell $65, or 0.7 percent, to $8,950 a metric ton （$4.06 a pound）. Earlier, the price rose to a record $9,091.
Copper on the LME will top $10,000 in 2011 on “extraordinarily tight” supplies, Kevin Norrish, a managing director at Barclays Capital, said today at a press conference in New York. Global inventories will touch an all-time low as demand rises “rapidly” in China and India, driven by construction of infrastructure and homes, he said.
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