LONDON -- Copper prices Wednesday slumped to their lowest level in six-weeks amid concerns that China's demand for the red metal may slow after record imports in the first quarter.

Copper for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exxhange fell as low as $7,540 a tonne, its lowest since April,and ended the official session at $7,610 a tonne, down $145 or almost 2 percent from Tuesday.

In New York, copper for July delivery settled down 11.50 cents, or 3.25 percent, to $3.4225 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. It fell as low as $3.4150, its lowest since April 9, with a session high of $3.5375.

"China appears to be flooded with copper stocks," said economist John Kemp at Sempra Metals.

"Market's concerned that at the moment the only destination for copper appears to be China and that destination is becoming glutted," he said.

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China's imports of refined copper, anode and copper alloy in April stood at 205,053 tonnes, exceeding expectations even though it was down 6.5 percent from March's record of 219,359 tonnes.

"If they have imported so much, it will put pressure on physical premiums, and the physical market is likely to get weaker rather than stronger," UBS strategist Robin Bhar said.

Copper prices have almost tripled in three years as investors have poured money into the market, encouraged by the prospect of strong long-term growth in China and India.

NICKEL TIGHTNESS

Supply tightness in nickel weighed on spreads. The backwardation — the premium for cash material over three months — has almost doubled to $3,400 since late-April, its highest in almost three months.

"Extreme tightness in the nickel market with the nearby spreads flaring out points to a large short exiting their positions which could suggest that the top is close," UBS said in a research note.

Nickel for three-months delivery Wednesday shed $150 and closed at $50,450 a tonne. The metal hit an all-time high of $51,800 this month.

"LME stocks are rising again, which could be a sign that shorts are electing to deliver metal to close out their positions," the bank said. Stocks of nickel at LME warehouses rose 198 tonnes to 4,872, with available or on warrant stocks at 3,930 tonnes — around one day of global consumption.

In industry news, Norilsk Nickel criticised a higher bid by Xstrata Plc for LionOre Mining International Ltd. and said it would soon announce its next steps in the race for the Canadian company.

Shares in Rio Tinto rose by 2.6 percent despite broad stock market weakness, as traders cited further talk of bid speculation. Brazil's Cia Vale do Rio Doce, the world's biggest iron ore miner, was the latest being linked with Rio Tinto.

India-focused miner Vedanta Resources posted on Wednesday a 145 percent rise in annual core earnings, and said global demand for metals remained strong.

Aluminium closed almost unchanged at $2,848 against $2,850 while zinc shed $75 to $3,840.

Tin slipped 1.2 percent or $175 to $13,950 and lead was $10 higher at $2,095.

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