LONDON - Copper prices slumped on Thursday for a third consecutive session on persistent worries about COVID-19 lockdowns hitting economic growth in top metals consumer China and the impact of global inflation.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dropped 0.7% to a one-week low of $9,312 a tonne by 1030 GMT.

The most-traded July contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended daytime trading 0.5% lower at 71,080 yuan ($10,562) a tonne.

"There are still concerns about the Chinese economy. When we don't see any movement in China away from that strict COVID policy, the market just tends to slip away," said Robert Montefusco at broker Sucden Financial.

"We also still have liquidity issues in the market. The general feeling is a wait-and-see approach, people are just trying to ascertain what's going on and how this inflation problem plays out."

Pandemic-hit Shanghai, China's financial hub, unveiled more post-lockdown plans on Thursday as it moves towards a return to normal, but a nationwide economic recovery is still a distance away.

Copper, which is often used as a gauge of global economic health, has shed 14% since touching a record peak of $10,845 a tonne in early March.

* LME tin dropped as much as 3.6%, the lowest since May 18, on worries about demand. It pared losses and was down 2.7% at $33,155.

* The market got support from a weaker dollar index, which hovered near a one-month low as minutes from the Federal Reserve's May meeting contained few surprises. A weaker greenback makes metals priced in dollars cheaper for holders of other currencies.

* The world refined copper market moved to a 25,000 tonne deficit in March from a 95,000 tonnes surplus in February, data showed.

* LME aluminium was little changed at $2,873 a tonne and lead was also flat at $2,103.50, while zinc slipped 0.4% to $3,735.50 and nickel shed 0.1% to $26,775. ($1 = 6.7296 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Eric Onstad; Additional reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Susan Fenton)