Stronger dollar, China demand worries send copper lower

Prices for copper were lower again Wednesday as investors worried about a drop in demand from China which, according to an analyst could have as much as 1.2 million tonnes, or 80 days’ consumption of the metal, on hand at present.

A gain of 175 tonnes in London Metal Exchange-monitored inventories of copper during the session also helped prices lower.

December copper was 6 cents lower to $2.18 per pound in New York trade while three-month copper fell $144 to $6,126 per tonne in London.

Most other base metals also saw price declines, including a drop of $16 to $1,873 per tonne for aluminium, which still remains near record high inventories in LME warehouses despite a decline of 4,250 tonnes during the session.

Zinc was down $43 to $1,903 per tonne and lead dropped $49 to $2,240 per tonne, while tin prices remained unchanged at $14,650 per tonne.

Nickel, meanwhile, added $125 to $17,875 per tonne.

Precious metals prices were also lower.

December gold was down $1.10 to $1,014,40 per troy ounce as the US dollar strengthened and crude oil prices dropped significantly, while December silver fell 21 cents to $16.92 per troy ounce, October platinum was $11.40 lower to $1,330.70 per troy ounce and December palladium ended the session at $297.65 per troy ounce, a decline of $4.75 on the session.