Copper prices fall on low demand from China

Metals prices were mixed Wednesday.

December copper dropped 3 cents to $3.40 per pound in afternoon trade in New York while three-month copper was down $65 to $7,510 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange as demand from China continued to be weak.

Aluminium was $15 lower to $2,762 per tonne on the LME as inventories added 25,050 tonnes to around 1.5 million tonnes even though output fell slightly in July, according to new data from the International Aluminium Institute.

Lead was also lower, dropping $60 to $1,740 per tonne, but zinc was up $4 on the session while nickel added $505 to $19,900 per tonne and tin gained more than $700 to trade around $20,500/$20,505 at the close of the session.

Among precious metals, December gold was $1.80 lower to $185 per troy ounce while December silver dropped 10 cents to $13.12 per troy ounce but October platinum added $17.60 to $1,368.90 per troy ounce.