March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Copper declined in London as mining companies in Chile, the world’s largest producer, resumed production following the Feb. 27 earthquake, easing supply concerns. Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange declined as much as 1.6 percent to $7,373.75 a metric ton, after closing 1.2 percent up yesterday. The contract traded at $7,402 at 10:14 a.m. in Shanghai. The June-delivery contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange added as much as 1.5 percent to 60,050 yuan ($8,797) a ton, and last traded at 59,820 yuan. Codelco, the world’s largest copper miner, said its Andina mine reached full production yesterday, and its El Teniente mine is probably already at full output after resuming operations the day after the quake, an official said from Santiago. The quake lifted copper, used in homes and power grids, to a five-week high in London and by the most in 11 months in New York this week. “Supply concerns from the Chile quake are fading and the market is re-focusing on demand, which is yet to pick up in China,” Chen Xiang, an analyst at Dahua Futures Co. said from Shanghai today. China is the world’s largest copper consumer. Anglo American Plc said it resumed production on Feb. 28 at mines in central Chile after partially restoring power cut by the quake. The port of San Antonio, which ships copper from El Teniente, may resume partial operations today, the Ministry of Public Works said in an e-mail. The temblor, the fifth strongest since 1900, killed almost 800 people and flattened homes near the epicenter off the coast of southern Chile. Aluminum in London was 0.7 percent down at $2,154 a ton, zinc slumped 2.7 percent to $2,195, lead decreased 1.8 percent to $2,160, nickel retreated 1.5 percent to $21,900, and tin fell 0.5 percent to $17,000. --Li Xiaowei. With reporting by Heather Walsh in Bogota. Editors: Richard Dobson, Aaron Sheldrick. To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net Related Articles

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