Industrial metals tumbled on Thursday, with copper losing over 1.5 percent of its value, as doubts about the pace of recovery and persistent increases in inventories reignited concerns about near-term demand prospects.

China's production of refined copper hit a monthly record of 364,900 tonnes in August, up 8.7 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

China’s output of lead and zinc also leapt to new record monthly highs. It produced 1.122 million tonnes of primary aluminium, up 5 percent on month, but still 2.3 percent off last August's high, the data showed.

Zambia, Africa's largest copper producer, has projected a slight rise in 2009 copper output to 664,000 tonnes, compared with previous estimates of 600,000 tonnes due to rising production at the mines, data showed. Zambia's Treasury said on Thursday output from the copper mines would rise by a further 5 percent in 2010.

The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that economic recovery may come three months earlier than forecast. In China, government data showed investment growth in the real estate sector accelerated sharply in August while prices and sales continued to rise.

We expect the trend in industrial metals to remain up for the day backed by the weakness in the dollar and on the signs of a revival in the economies. We recommend going long at dips.