Copper futures impacted by demand from China

Copper futures on Wednesday gave back some of Tuesday's 3 percent gains, pulled down in value by the debilitated common currency of the European Union, Reuters reports.

The reddish metal also suffered the consequences of reduced demand for the metal with uses in construction, industry and manufacturing as it is sensitive to economic data and developments from those segments.

The value of the 17-nation monetary unit neared its lowest price in 16 months to the world's reserve currency in the aftermath of a high-level Fitch Ratings official telling the news service that administrators at the European Central Bank should exert more effort into challenging the damaging tendencies of the sovereign debt scourge.

"I wouldn't be too excited about metals at the moment," analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov with VTB Capital told Reuters. "Copper has been rangebound for the last few weeks with the upside capped around the $8,000 level. It's all about the euro zone debt crisis."

At 12:11 p.m. on Wednesday, copper futures gained 0.63 percent, a 2.2 cent rise to $3.535 per pound.

Tuesday's climb was largely attributable to reports about increased imports during December of the reddish metal to China, host of the globe's most rapidly developing economic system.

And as host of the globe's second-largest economic system, China also is the world's biggest consumer of copper. The Asian nation trails only the U.S. as far as economic size is concerned.

December's surge of copper demand from China fueled expectations about the nation continuing to demand the reddish metal, which would mean development is on the rise.

"People were a little bit surprised yesterday by the strength of the Chinese imports, particularly in copper," analyst Nic Brown with Natixis told the publication. "Our overall view on China demand for copper this year is that it's going to be good."

Bloomberg reports the industrial metal fell from its top value in one week as a result of credit rating service Fitch Ratings stating it is eyeing Italy for a potential credit rating reduction.

As a consequence, preoccupations grew for the prospects of economic development and growth in Europe, which pulled down demand for industrial metals like copper.

The ratings service also is eyeing all European sovereign ratings for potential downgrades and is expected to issue its decision by the end of January.

Stockpiles of copper monitored by the London Metals Exchange fell 0.4 percent to amount to 365,375 tons, scraping the lowest level since late December 2010.

The Wall Street Journal reports Chinese imports of the reddish metal during the month of December amounted to 508,942 metric tons, which served as a surprising subplot to many who anticipated the nation's imports would have declined as compared to the month prior.

But, rather, the increase totaled 13 percent for the month of December and 48 percent as compared to figures from 2010, according to information released by the General Administration of Customs.

The surge is partially attributable to buyers of the reddish metal capitalizing on copper price reductions from late summer, analysts said.

"The copper-imports number was good, and seems to be improving," principal Bill O'Neill with commodities firm Logic Advisors told The Wall Street Journal. "When you combine that with some of the comments from Alcoa about metals demand in general, I think copper benefited from that as well."

Alcoa stated on Monday that it anticipates demand for aluminum to climb 12 percent this year.

The Asian nation's consumption of copper encompasses roughly 40 percent of the world's use and copper is employed for tasks including wiring, plumbing, electronics and vehicles.

The reddish metal "demand growth remains healthy," states a note from analysts with RBS, according to The Wall Street Journal. "Consumption in mature economies will likely slow, but most of the growth forecast for the next few years is still expected to come from China, where demand is holding up well."