Copper prices are declining on the first day of the month after the release of data on a fairly moderate growth in business activity in China in January, according to trading data.

March futures on copper on the Comex exchange fell by 0.38% to $4.207 a pound (about 0.45 kilograms).

At the end of trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on Tuesday, the cost of a ton of copper with delivery in three months rose by 0.14% to $9222.5, aluminum - by 2.1%, to $2644, zinc declined by 1.65% to $3389.