Copper prices lower despite decline in LME inventories

Metals prices were lower on Wednesday. Among base metals, lead dropped 0.6 percent to $2,310 per tonne, while copper and zinc each lost 1 percent. Copper retreated to $7,290 per tonne even though stockpiles in London Metal Exchange warehouses were 450 tonnes lower and worries continued about strikes in Mexico and Chile. Zinc traded at $3,675 per tonne after a delivery of 2,800 tonnes of the metal to LME warehouses in Dubai.

Meanwhile, both nickel and aluminium remained unchanged on the session in London. Nickel traded at $40,500 per tonne after having gone as low as $39,350 earlier in the session, while aluminium was at $2.716.5 per tonne.

By early afternoon precious metals trade in New York, August gold had dropped 40 cents to $652.70 per troy ounce. In other precious metals, July silver was 3 cents lower to $3.06 per troy ounce and platinum had dropped $12.90 to $1,283.50 per troy ounce.