US copper ends down on Chinese demand growth fears

NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - U.S. copper futures at the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division lost some ground on Monday as worries about sluggish Chinese demand took some steam out of the market's Chilean strike-fueled rally, analysts said.

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* Active May copper HGK8 ended down 2.20 cents at $3.8660 a lb. Range was $3.8405 to $3.93.

* By 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT), futures volumes estimated at 11,456 lots. Final volumes on Friday totaled 25,163 lots.

* Open interest in the market fell 249 lots to 107,065 contracts open as of April 18.

* Copper market likely to trade in a sideways range due to a number of crosscurrents - analyst.

* Copper finding support from low stock levels, a buoyant energy complex, and supply troubles from Chile. The upside is being capped by sideways trend in the dollar vs. the Euro and lagging consumption, particularly from China. - analyst.

* World No. 1 copper producer, Codelco, said its Salvador and Andina divisions will remain closed for a sixth day due to subcontractor strike. [ID:nN21418574]

* Output at the two divisions totaled 282,000 in 2007.