By Glenys Sim Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Copper led a decline in industrial metals in Asia as the dollar rebounded on renewed concerns over credit losses in Dubai, curbing investor demand for raw materials as alternative investments. The metal used in construction and automobiles dropped for a sixth day, heading for its longest losing streak in a year, as investors turned their attention to swelling global inventories amid concern the global economic recovery may stall. “There’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the global economy and what happened in Dubai was certainly a wake-up call for investors,” said China International Futures (Shanghai) Co. analyst Wang Zhouyi. “The recent strength in the dollar has also been weighing on prices lately.” Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange lost as much as 1.9 percent to $6,810 a ton before trading at $6,836 at 2:41 p.m. Singapore time. The metal has fallen for six days, the longest slump since the seven-day period ending Dec. 5, 2008. March-delivery copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell as much as 2.1 percent to 53,480 yuan ($7,833) a ton, before trading 1.5 percent lower at 53,800 yuan. March-delivery copper slid 0.2 percent to $3.1165 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The dollar approached a one-month high against the euro after the Financial Times reported Dubai World’s private equity arm Istithmar is under pressure from its creditors, with an unnamed “senior banker” stating the group was in trouble. It was at $1.4717 per euro, from $1.4726 in New York yesterday. Fundamentals Focus “The fundamentals have been brought back to focus as we approach the end of the year and money managers take money off the table to evaluate their investment decisions for the new year,” Yang Zhenqiang, an analyst at First Futures Brokerage Co., said from Tianjin. The worst postwar recession halved copper prices last year and boosted London Metal Exchange stockpiles by 35 percent this year. Inventories expanded for a 27th day yesterday to 458,500 metric tons, while those in Shanghai warehouses stood at 104,710 tons last week, more than six times the level at the start of the year. Investor sentiment was damped in the past two days after Standard & Poor’s lowered Spain’s credit outlook to “negative” and Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece’s debt. The metal also fell on speculation China’s imports may decline in November for the fourth time in five months. Supply Disruptions Copper prices have more than doubled this year as a $586 billion Chinese government spending plan spurred raw material purchases, driving copper imports to record levels in the first half of this year. Imports, which were 169,374 tons in October, may total about 160,000 tons in November, said Yang. China is expected to release trade data tomorrow. A labor dispute at Codelco’s Chuquicamata copper mine in northern Chile helped limit the metal’s losses. Workers halted production and blocked access to the site for an “indefinite” period, union presidents said yesterday. Workers blockaded the mine after wage contract negotiations stalled, said Cecilia Gonzalez, one of three union presidents representing the miners. Codelco is the world’s largest producer of copper. Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum fell 1.5 percent to $2,180 a ton, zinc dropped 1 percent to $2,290 a ton and lead lost 0.7 percent to $2,265 a ton. Nickel slid 0.7 percent to $16,450 a ton, while tin hadn’t traded by 2:48 p.m. in Singapore. To contact the reporter for this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net

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