Bloomberg reported that copper was seen falling in New York as slumping Japanese exports added to evidence of a global economic slowdown, undermining prospects for demand.

The Finance Ministry said that shipments dropped 8.1% from a year earlier. Exports to the European Union, embroiled in the euro debt crisis plunged the most since October 2009. Growth has weakened for Q6 in China, the world’s biggest copper consumer, while euro area services and manufacturing output shrank for 6 month in July.

Mr William Adams an analyst at Basemetals.com in London said that “The lower exports are a worrying sign about the strength of the global economy.”

Declines may be limited by figures predicted to show a stronger housing market in the US, the second biggest copper user. The Copper Development Association says construction generates about 40% of demand for the metal.

BHP Billiton Limited put on hold a planned expansion of the Olympic Dam mine in Australia that would have increased copper output almost fourfold to 750,000 tonnes per year. That was among about USD 68 billion of projects delayed after H2 profit plunged 58%.

Source - Bloomberg

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