Copper drops on demand worries, inventories

Metals prices fell Tuesday on cheaper oil, a stronger US dollar and on concerns about demand for base metals.

Copper was down 1 cent to $3.09 per pound in New York while three-month copper dropped $85 to $6,815 per tonne in London after going as low as $6,778 per tonne earlier as inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses hovered at  around 202,000 tonnes and investors worried about whether demand will grow, especially key market China.

Meanwhile, aluminium was down $47 to $2,603 per tonne after falling as low as $2,595 per tonne earlier, zinc fell $52 to $1,718 per tonne, lead was $81 lower to $1,770 per tonne, nickel dropped $350 to $18,500 per tonne and tin plummeted $500 to $18,600 per tonne even though Indonesia exported 30 percent less of the metal in August.

Precious metals prices also dropped on the session as lower prices for crude oil made the metals less attractive as investments.

December gold was down $9.80 to $792.70 per tonne in New York while December silver dropped 35 cents to $11.72 and October platinum fell $90.80 to $1,262.10 per troy ounce.