Problems at their Grasberg mine led Freeport-McMoRan to reduce its production output, which further fueled supply concerns and led to copper’s 7-1/2 month low rebounding.  China’s import data remains unclear.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc (FCX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Wednesday it is lowering its 2008 copper and gold production outlook, due to an incident at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia.

Read the article here.

LME‘s increased stocks also raise concerns about supply issues.

LME copper prices have slumped about 20 percent since their
record high in July of $8,940 a tonne, fuelled by the heavy
flows of material into LME warehouses which brought total copper stocks to around 203,900 tonnes — the highest since March 2007.

Find the complete article here.

China’s August figures were down although late buying is expected to materialize this month and the figures from September and October will be most critical.