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Copper Gains in New York as Price Slump Attracts Chinese Buyers

By Millie Munshi

Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Copper rose for a second straight session as a 20 percent price slump since Oct. 1 spurred buying in China, the world's largest metal consumer.

Copper had fallen on speculation an economic slowdown in the U.S. would erode demand. China's use of the metal jumped 37 percent in the 10 months ended Oct. 31, the World Bureau of Metals Statistics said yesterday.

``Lower prices will stimulate extra demand, particularly in China where they have a habit of waiting for price dips to buy,'' said Patrick Chidley, an analyst at Barnard Jacobs Mellet LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. ``Demand is very strong there.''

Copper futures for March delivery rose 0.75 cent, or 0.3 percent, to $2.9655 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal gained 2.6 percent yesterday.

In Shanghai, copper futures for March delivery jumped as much as 4 percent to the daily trading limit. Inventories monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange have dropped for five straight weeks, falling to 26,390 metric tons as of Dec. 13.

Copper use exceeded supplies by 265,000 metric tons in the nine months ended Sept. 30 as consumption gained in China, the International Copper Study Group said today.