OREANDA-NEWS. February 11, 2015. Copper fell on Tuesday as worries over China's economic growth resurfaced and fears over Greece's euro zone membership continue to simmer, though losses were limited by news of supply disruptions.

China's annual consumer inflation hit a five-year low in January, underscoring persistent weakness in the economy after the country's trade performance slumped in January.

The data adds more pressures on policymakers to support growth, though China's central bank said it will fine-tune policy to head off an economic slowdown but avoid overstimulating the economy.

Data on Monday showed China's imports tumbled 19.9 percent in January, far worse than expected.

However, copper has lost 11 percent of its value this year after a 14 percent loss last year, leading some analysts to say that the bad news is probably priced in for now.

"China is weak and weakening at the moment, (but) at these prices you are well into the marginal cost of production so I think the downside on copper is fairly limited," said William Adams, head of research at Fast Markets.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange eased by 1.6 percent to \\$5,585 a tonne at 1035 GMT. Prices are rebounding from 5-1/2 year lows hit in late January but are not expected to gain steam until after the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Meanwhile, copper is being held back at the margins by the probability of Greece leaving the euro zone, which has risen several notches in recent days.

Also, brent crude fell below \\$58 a barrel on Tuesday, eroding a plank of support for metals.

Still, supply disruptions could yet support prices. BHP Billiton said it had suspended most staff operations at its Olympic Dam copper mine after a fatality on Tuesday.

Chile's massive Collahuasi copper mine will be operating at less than half capacity until at least Friday after the company halted its main grinding mill for maintenance.

In other metals, tin fell 0.8 percent to \\$18,100 a tonne, its lowest in 2-1/2 years.

Refined tin shipments from top exporter Indonesia were 6,770.24 tonnes in January, down 34 percent from December, a trade ministry official said on Tuesday.

Lead fell 1 percent to \\$1,831.50 a tonne.

"(Lead) market fundamentals largely appear to be looking positive. SHFE and LME inventories are exhibiting sustained draw trends. We project 1Q15 lead prices to average \\$1,880 per tonne," Citi said in a note.