Copper down on inventories, ICSG report

With a couple of exceptions, metals prices fell again Wednesday.

March copper was down 7 cents to $1.43 per pound in afternoon trade in New York, while in London three-month copper fell $121 to $3,220 per tonne as inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses added 8,375 tonnes to 417,475 tonnes on the session.

The gains also came on continuing demand concerns after a report from the International Copper Study Group which showed that copper demand was down more than 10 percent in the US in the first 10 months of 2008.

According to the ICSG’s press release announcing the report, copper use globally increased by 2.8 percent during the January through October 2008 period over the same time span in 2007.

Usage was up by 12.7 percent in China, but dropped by 1.9 percent in Japan, was down 2.8 percent in the European Union and fell 10.3 percent in the United States.

Aluminium was down $61 in London trade to $1,339 per tonne as stockpiles in LME warehouses added 88,875 tonnes during the day to 2.6 million tonnes, the most in nearly 15 years.

Zinc and nickel prices were also lower on increased inventories, while tin gained to trade at $11,500 per tonne in afternoon trade in London.

Among precious metals, gold prices fell on the chance that the US dollar will strengthen even though it was lower during the day’s trade.

February gold dropped $5.70to $849.50 per troy ounce and April platinum was down $21.70 to $927.10 per troy ounce, but March silver added 15 cents to trade at $11.33 per troy ounce in New York.