SINGAPORE (Bloomberg) -- Copper declined in Asia as global stockpiles of the metal used in wires and pipes rose, easing concern that supply may fall short of demand.

Shanghai copper stockpiles rose 4.7 percent to 58,195 metric tons, the Shanghai Futures Exchange said in a report after the market closed. Copper inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses climbed to 112,575 tons.
“Recent builds in base metals inventories have led some in the market to question just how tight the underlying fundamentals of base metals really are,” Barclays Capital Inc. analysts including Gayle Berry, said in a report e-mailed. “We see another big deficit in the second quarter, inventories returning to all-time lows and prices testing all-time highs again.”
Copper for delivery in three months on the LME fells 0.6 percent to $8,500 a ton at 1:43 p.m. in Singapore.
Barclays raised its cash copper price forecast for the second quarter to $7,800 a ton, from an earlier estimate of $7,300 a ton.
Aluminum for delivery in three months on the LME was unchanged at $2,920 a ton at 12:43 p.m. in Singapore.
Aluminum price forecasts for 2008 have been raised by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Standard Bank Group Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, Standard Chartered Plc and UBS AG since late last month. Supply of the metal used in beverage cans and cars may be curtailed following energy shortages in China and South Africa that have fueled increased production costs.
Among other LME-traded metals, zinc was little changed at $2,317 a ton, lead slipped 0.3 percent to $2,950 a ton and nickel fell 0.7 percent to $28,800 a ton. Tin didn’t trade in Asia as of 1:52 p.m. in Singapore.