Copper lower as demand fears return

The price of copper was lower Monday on renewed demand concerns after the World Bank issued a report predicting that the world-wide economy will shrink by as much as 15 percent from last year.

May copper was down 5 cents to $1.64 per pound in New York while three-month copper dropped $106 to $3,614 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

The decline came even though LME stockpiles of the metal were down nearly 1 percent to 518,700 tonnes during the session.

Aluminium stockpiles in LME warehouses, on the other hand, were up to another record of 3.3 million tonnes, sending prices for the metal down $10 to $1,300 per tonne on the session.

Lead was higher, adding $23 to $1,243 per tonne on demand as LME stockpiles stood at 2 and a half days of global consumption.

Tin traded at $11,000 per tonne, zinc was at $1,223 per tonne and nickel traded at $9,650 per tonne as all three metals saw prices drop during the session.

Precious metals prices were also lower as April gold fell $24,70 to $918 per troy ounce as investors sold off their supplies and as the US dollar strengthened, while May silver was 39 cents lower to $12.94 per troy ounce and April platinum dropped $15 to $1,064.10 per troy ounce.