By Claudia Carpenter

Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Copper fell a second day in London on speculation demand in China, the world's biggest buyer, isn't strong enough to soak up more supplies of the metal. Nickel rose.

Copper stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange rose for a sixth consecutive day, according to the exchange's daily warehouse report today. Copper prices in London have climbed 25 percent this year as stockpiles dwindled.

``Chinese demand is very price-sensitive and because they've been able to replenish reserves over the last nine months, they can be much more choosy what price they take out,'' said David Thurtell, an analyst at BNP Paribas SA in London. The rise in inventories ``tends to suggest the market's becoming a little less tight.''

Copper for delivery in three months fell $30, or 0.4 percent, to $7,930 a metric ton as of 10:36 a.m. in London.

LME prices rose 2.4 percent last week as trading on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was closed. LME prices are down 3.4 percent this week while Shanghai futures fell 2.5 percent.

``The assumption was when the Chinese market reopened there would be a rush'' of buying, said John Kemp, an analyst at Sempra Metals Ltd. in London. ``In reality, China opened down and has stayed down and pulled LME back in line.''

Copper supplies will probably exceed consumption in the fourth quarter, the first surplus this year, because of reduced U.S. demand, Barclays Capital forecast last week. The U.S. is the second-biggest buyer of copper.

``A lot of copper is coming out of South America and there isn't the demand for it in North America clearly,'' Kemp said. ``Demand from China is good but not booming.''

Copper stockpiles monitored by the LME climbed 500 tons, or 0.4 percent, to 132,300 tons today. They are up 1.2 percent since Oct. 1.

Nickel advanced $250 to $30,400 a ton. Among other industrial metals, lead was unchanged at $3,675 a ton and zinc was steady at $2,950. Aluminum gained $18 to $2,405 a metric ton.

To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net .

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