London copper dropped on Tuesday, falling away from recent four-month highs after weak Chinese trade data damaged the outlook for metals and revived fears that a downturn in China’s economy could derail global growth, Reuters reported. China’s February trade performance was much worse than economists had expected, with exports tumbling the most in over six years and imports also sliding, days after top leaders reassured investors that the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy remains solid. “We find that the likelihood of a sustained improvement in Chinese demand during 2016/17 is low, and we remain strongly of the view that the structural bear market drivers ... remain intact,” Goldman said in a research note. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had slipped 1.2% to $4,942 a ton, adding to small losses from the previous session. Prices have dropped from four-month highs struck last week at $5,059 a ton. China’s imports of copper fell 4.5% from month ago to 420,000 tons in February, customs data showed.
