By Francesca Freeman 
   

   

      LONDON--Copper prices were near-flat on the London Metal Exchange Wednesday as traders awaited fresh developments in a Chinese metals-financing probe. 
   

   

      The LME's three-month copper contract was up 0.1% at $6,685 a metric ton in mid-morning European trade. 
   

   

      Attention remains fixed on China, where authorities are investigating whether companies used the same stocks of commodities held in the port of Qingdao as collateral for obtaining multiple loans. 
   

   

      As credit tightens and the nation's economy slows, some investors worry that commodities like copper will be dumped onto the market as banks seize collateral and new financing deals are hard to come by, potentially knocking down prices. 
   

   

      "Given the financing difficulties for many holders of metal, we expect a continuance of the outflows from the bonded zones that began last week," said Vivienne Lloyd of Macquarie. By the end of the third quarter, around 600,000 tons of copper may have flowed out of Chinese bonded warehouses, she said. 
   

   

      "All this, in our view, points to prices staying off those highs seen in May, and traveling in the range of $6,500-6,750 a ton over the next month," said Ms. Lloyd. 
   

   

      Also Wednesday, the World Bank cut its global growth forecast to 2.8% for the year from its 3.2% forecast in January. The move could weigh on base metals prices, which are sensitive to economic growth expectations. 
   

   

      In other base metals Wednesday, aluminum was down 1.2% at $1,877 a ton, zinc was down 0.7% at $2,117.50 a ton, nickel was down 2.2% at $18,356 a ton, lead was down 0.5% at $2,130.25 a ton and tin was 0.4% lower at $22,768 a ton. 
   

   

      Write to Francesca Freeman at [email protected] 
   

   

      (END) Dow Jones Newswires
   

   

      June 11, 2014 06:02 ET (10:02 GMT)
   

   

      Copyright (c) 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.