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"A recent nationwide industrial standard released by Beijing is expected to reduce China's copper demand by 100,000-250,000 tonnes next year, Goldman Sachs said in a latest note. "

Copper prices tumbled to a five-week low Thursday on expectations that falling demand from China and a slowdown in the U.S. housing market will lead to a surplus of the metal. Other commodities traded mixed, with crude oil rebounding slightly and gold, silver and soybeans falling. Corn and wheat futures rose. China, the world's biggest buyer of copper, has been importing less of the metal since the completion of most major construction projects heading into the Beijing summer Olympics. Copper imports in June fell 20 percent compared to May, China's custom's agency said this month. As a result, stockpiles of the metal have swelled in Shanghai and London, helping drive down prices.

Car sales have dropped by 67.1% in Beijing after city authorities imposed a car purchase limit policy at the start of 2011. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), sales were down from 283,000 vehicles in Q1 2010 to 93,000 in the same period this year, with new cars accounting for 66% of sales. Automotive production is closely linked to copper demand, with the industry having an estimated 6.9% market share of world copper consumption.

"In my personal opinion, most plants are unlikely to actually cut back because of profit factors. The smelters agreed to cut back mainly because of tight power and high power costs, but for some, supply is not much affected, only costs have gone up. But the cost of shutting down and restarting might be even higher than the increased power prices," a source from Shaanxi Tongchuan aluminum said July 11. A source from Chuangyuan aluminum said, "We also signed the agreement, but that's just a piece of paper; there is no definite ruling to say we must cut output. We have no plans to cut output at the moment or in the short term, but we may consider cutting back in the future." The Chuangyuan source also cited the power versus shutdown cost ratioand noted that in any case the company has its own power plant. "We don't expect many of the other smelters at the meeting to cut either, including Chalco ... everyone will wait and see," he said. "Domestic prices have risen slightly, but mainly affected by the rise on the LME yesterday - there seems to be little fundamental impact within China itself," an analyst from Beijing Antaike said July 11. "People are all very uncertain and maybe confused now since there are no definite details on what the cutbacks will be." A Chinese trader said domestic demand and trade activity were also expected to slow due to the Olympics, and those plants that actually shut may be able to restart in the fourth quarter, so the impact on domestic prices would be minimal.

China imported 87,168 metric tons of the metal last month, the Beijing-based customs office said, citing revised final data. Imports were 88,075 tons in July,

BEIJING -- China, the world's largest metal consumer, discarded a plan to buy copper to support domestic smelters because producers are still profitable and inventories aren't high, government and company officials said.

China's copper consumption will rise in 2009 but growth will slow from 2008, Li Yihuang, president of Jiangxi Copper group, said on Thursday. "I feel this year's copper consumption growth should very closely track the country's gross domestic product growth," Li told reporters in Beijing.

Beijing is trying to reduce the country's exports of goods from heavily polluting or energy-intensive industries, especially as it faces recurring power shortages.

"1. Chinese smelters are jointly calling on the government to scrap the 15% export tax on aluminium ingots, as they hope to benefit from a global market deficit. Yet many market participants cast doubts on the proposal as it is against Beijing's industrial policy on the light metal. 2. Beijing has cancelled approval requirement for aluminium smelting projects, but it continues to keep tight control over the sector, ordering local governments not to register new aluminium smelting..."

The Chinese government announced that it will terminate its old-for-new home appliances subsidy scheme on 31st December 2011. The subsidy, which was introduced on 1st June, provides consumers in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Fuzhou, Changsha and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Guangdong with a 10% discount on a selected group of appliances. These include televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air-conditioners and computers. All of these appliances are major end use segments for copper semis products.