Metals prices lower; zinc inventories decline

In metals markets on Wednesday, copper was down by 7.5 percent to $8,217 per tonne after a record one-day price gain on Tuesday. The drop in price came even though Codelco warned that its production would drop by 6.5 percent during the year as it cut its long-term annual production target to 2.5 million tonnes by 2020, down from its previous target of 3 million tonnes by 2015. One prediction said demand could be hurt by slower growth in construction, possibly causing copper prices to drop by 20 percent.

In other base metals, zinc dropped 2.2 percent to $3,470 per tonne even though London Metal Exchange inventories dropped by 950 tonnes. Aluminium was down 4.5 percent to $2,740 per tonne despite strike worries. Nickel was slightly lower at $21,950 per tonne after having hit a new record high price of $22,320 per tonne earlier in the day.

Precious metals were lower as well. Gold dropped 4.3 percent to $642.50 per troy ounce. Silver declined by 2.4 percent to $12.62 per troy ounce, platinum dropped 2.7 percent to $1,280 per troy ounce, and palladium lost 3.9 percent to $345 per troy ounce.