Lead drops 8.7 percent in London

Copper prices were at a five-week low in New York on Monday as September contracts for the metal dropped just under a cent to $3.47 per pound on Monday afternoon and was down as low as $3.43 per pound earlier in the session, its lowest level since the end of June.

The declines came on worries that demand for copper will slow as the US housing slump continues and factory orders were lower than had been expected in June.

According to the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper inventories in monitored warehouses dropped 2.8 percent last week after having been up 7.8 percent the week before.

In London, however, three-month copper added 0.3 percent to $7,690 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange during the day.

In other metals, three-month lead dropped 8.7 percent to $3,032 per tonne on the LME near the close of trade and analysts said that it was not likely that it will remain above the $3,000 level.

Nickel was down $300 to $28,850 per tonne in London, now well below its record of almost $52,000 set in early May.

Zinc was also lower, dropping $36 to $3,350 per tonne in London, while tin and aluminium both remained steady at $16,100 per tonne and $2,645 per tonne respectively.