Copper prices slipped on Monday on worries that top metals consumer China wants to put a lid on surging commodity prices to head off potential inflation. Concern about faltering demand and rising copper inventories also weighed on the market. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) shed 0.4% to $8,893.50 a tonne in official trading. Copper has gained about 30% over the past five months, having touched a 9-1/2 year peak of $9,617 in late February. Shanghai copper declined 1.8% to 65,690 yuan a tonne. “The real focus right now is those very high PPI (producer price index) numbers, both from China and the ... (full story)