Metals prices drop despite some decline in inventories

Metals prices were lower on the Wednesday. Lead was 0.9 percent lower to $2,305 per tonne, while nickel dropped 1.3 percent to $45,600 per tonne. Aluminium fell 1.9 percent to $2,750.5 per tonne. Zinc was 2.2 percent lower to $3,690 per tonne despite London Metal Exchange inventories that were 1,000 tonnes lower. Copper prices were 2.6 percent lower to $7,425 per tonne. As with zinc, the price of copper was lower even though LME inventories were down by 250 tonnes.

Among precious metals, gold fell 0.5 percent to $665.75 per troy ounce, while platinum dropped 0.2 percent to $1,288 per troy ounce. The decline in platinum prices came even though a union demand for higher pay for miners could result in a strike.