China's copper stockpile may slow imports

TORONTO - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson said there's speculation that copper inventories may increase in China and damp demand for the metal later this year.

"The copper market is strongly supported by China," Adkerson said on a conference call after releasing first-quarter earnings. "Speculation is that some of those imports are going into warehouses and that might affect imports later in the year."

Stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange have surged 95 percent in 2010, raising concern that exports of the industrial metal to China may slow. Shipments into China, the world's largest consumer of the metal, jumped 53 percent in March from February, data showed on Thursday.