LONDON (Commodity Online) : Copper prices dropped to seven week low here on fears China may tighten monetary policy further and cause demand to thin from the world's top consumer of many base metals.

The metal also hit a two-month low in Shanghai as China on Sunday raised the bank reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, its third increase of that magnitude this year as the country continues to siphon off excess cash to cool its red-hot economy.

Analysts said there is concern that policy tightening in China will mean that economic growth and, therefore, demand for metals in China would be less than it what otherwise would have been.