Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Copper rose for a fourth day in New York and London as stronger German exports and Chinese car sales added to signs that the world economy is reviving. Lead climbed for a fifth day, leading gains on the London Metal Exchange. Sales abroad increased 2.3 percent in July, the third advance in a row, Germany’s Federal Statistics Office said today. The country is the world’s third-largest copper user after the U.S. and China. The Asian nation’s auto sales surged a record 90 percent from a year earlier in August, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said. “The export data is very encouraging,” David Thurtell, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in London, said by phone. “We need to start buying goods from each other again. Car sales jumped in China. It is all good.” Copper for December delivery rose 10.85 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $2.975 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division at 8:40 a.m. local time. The metal’s current winning streak is the longest since the five days ended Aug. 5. Copper for three-month delivery added 3.1 percent to $6,520 a metric ton on the LME. All of the six industrial metals traded on the LME climbed as lead extended its gain since Sept. 1 to 20 percent. Copper producer Kazakhmys Plc and other mining companies posted six of the 10 biggest advances in the U.K. benchmark FTSE 100 Index of shares. Dollar Slides Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised estimates for metals prices, citing “increasing evidence of a stronger-than- anticipated recovery in global industrial activity.” Prices also advanced as the dollar weakened, reducing the cost of raw materials priced in the currency for holders of other monies. The Dollar Index, which gauges the greenback’s value against six currencies, slid as much as 1.1 percent to its lowest level this year. Metals also got a boost from a gain in U.K. manufacturing that was three times larger than predicted by economists. Output rose 0.9 percent in July from the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said. German industrial output fell 0.9 percent in July after rising in June, the Economy Ministry said. Copper will trade at $7,650 a ton at the end of 2010, Goldman Sachs said, almost a third higher than its previous estimate of $5,800. A conventional car contains between 20 kilograms (44 pounds) and 25 kilograms of the metal, according to the European Copper Institute. Lead Smelters Among other LME metals for three-month delivery, lead rose $140, or 6 percent, to the day’s high of $2,490 a ton. That was the highest intraday price since May 7, 2008. The metal, used mainly in batteries, has led gains this year on the LME on concern about closings of smelters in China stemming from environmental regulation. “There are thousands of small smelters in China that have probably never been tested for any environmental impact,” Citigroup’s Thurtell said. “If we lose even just a small percentage, the world is going to be short of lead.” At least half a million tons of lead capacity is under investigation, according to Standard Chartered Plc. China produces some 4 million tons of the metal per year, almost half of total global supplies of 8.5 million tons, the bank says. Zinc rose $99, or 5.2 percent, to $2,004 a ton. Many Chinese smelters produce the metal, used to rust-proof steel, in addition to lead because they are often mined together, according to Thurtell. The environmental crackdown “has great implications for the zinc market as well,” he said. Aluminum gained 3.4 percent to $1,930 a ton, and tin climbed 3.7 percent to $14,850 a ton. Nickel advanced 5.2 percent to $18,625 a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Stablum in London at astablum@bloomberg.net

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