LONDON: Copper and other industrial metals fell on Wednesday after weak trade data from top consumer China cemented expectations that demand will remain lacklustre.

Prices of the metal used in electrical wiring have been under pressure amid disappointing Chinese consumption, expanding inventories and rising interest rates stifling economic growth.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 1.1% at $8,501 a tonne in official ring trading, having drifted from a seven-month high of $9,550.50 in January.

Prices remained down even after data showed that U.S. consumer prices rose at a slower-than-expected pace last month, the dollar weakened and U.S. stock market futures rose.

China is recovering from an economic slump last year but while its services sector is expanding, the metals-intensive construction and manufacturing industries are lagging.

China’s imports fell sharply in April and export growth slowed, data on Tuesday showed, reinforcing signs of feeble domestic demand.

China April copper imports fall amid weak demand

“If we look at the fundamentals, there’s little to suggest a move out of the current (price) ranges,” said Daria Efanova at brokers Sucden Financial.

Speculators in U.S. copper futures hold their most bearish position since August last year.

Efanova said that while deficits were likely from 2025 the copper market was currently in surplus.

A sign of ample supply is a rise in on-warrant copper inventories in LME registered warehouses to 75,150 tonnes from 34,350 tonnes in early April.

Meanwhile, copper production in Peru rose by 20% in March from the same month in 2022 as large mines resumed operations.

LME aluminium was down 1.7% at $2,280 a tonne, zinc fell 1.7% to $2,627.50, nickel slipped 2.1% to $23,025, lead was 0.1% lower at $2,136 and tin fell 0.4% to $25,900.