LONDON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Copper dropped almost 8 percent on Thursday to a 33-month low on demand concerns amid mounting fears of a global economic slowdown. Zinc and lead fell around 10 percent after economic data from the United States showed industrial production posting the biggest monthly decline since 1974. Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange fell as low as $4,545 a tonne, a drop of 7.6 percent, to the lowest price since January 2006. The metal, used in the contruction and power industries, traded at $4,615 a tonne by 1500 GMT after closing at $4,920 on Wednesday. 'All the data is pretty bearish, the industrial production was for September so you can expect that we are yet to see the big fallout from the last month in particular,' said commodity strategist David Thurtell at investment bank Citi. 'The Philly Fed data was shocking,' he added. U.S. Mid-Atlantic regional factory activity crashed to an 18-year low in October, adding to the grim toll the last month of credit turmoil has taken on the economy. LME zinc traded at $1,183, down 10.4 percent from $1,255 a tonne on Wednesday. Prices near or below the marginal costs of production have forced some miners to cut back output and delay future projects. 'We are getting cutbacks in some of the metals and eventually supply will tighten up and prices should recover,' Citi's Thurtell said. 'Demand will also stabilise and then recover -- but when that is is the $64 question.' Strategic Resource Acquisition Corp said the credit crisis and falling zinc prices forced the company to reduce its Gordonsville zinc mine operations. Lead dropped 9.9 percent to a low of $1,365 a tonne from $1,515 on demand worries for metal used in batteries. North American shipments of replacement automotive lead-acid batteries fell 8.6 percent in August from July, a U.S. industry group said late on Wednesday. While, J.D. Power and Associates, which tallies U.S. auto sales on a daily basis, sees October sales on track to hit the lowest level in 17 years. Aluminium stood at $2,155, after earlier falling as low as $2,115, from $2,170 a tonne. Prices for the metal -- used in construction, transport and packaging -- have fallen more than a third since a record high of $3,380 a tonne in July. Alexander Bulygin, chief exceutive of the world's largest aluminium producer United Company RUSAL said Thursday that 75 percent of aluminium producers in Europe, the United States and China were operating at below break-even with the metal trading at or below $2,500 per tonne. Aluminium stocks in LME-warehouses rose 9,225 tonnes to 1.47 million tonnes, the highest level since at least March 1995. Nickel dropped $655 to $11,300 per tonne, while tin traded at $13,500 from $14,050. China has slashed export quotas for tin for next year by 30 percent from 2008, a government web site said. Metal Prices at 1510 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2007 Ytd Pct move LME Cu 4590.00 -330.00 -6.71 6670.00 -31.18 SHFE Cu* 39590.00 -1580.00 -3.84 56880.00 -30.40 LME Alum 2149.00 -21.00 -0.97 2403.00 -10.57 SHFE Alu* 13600.00 -850.00 -5.88 18180.00 -25.19 COMEX Cu** 211.20 -11.15 -5.01 303.50 -30.41 LME Zinc 1178.00 -142.00 -10.76 2370.00 -50.30 SHFE Zinc* 11120.00 -455.00 -3.93 18950.00 -41.32 LME Nick 11200.00 -755.00 -6.32 26350.00 -57.50 LME Lead 1371.00 -144.00 -9.50 2550.00 -46.24 LME Tin 13500.00 -550.00 -3.91 16400.00 -17.68 ** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contact month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07 (Editing by Editing by Peter Blackburn) Keywords: MARKETS METALS/ tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomsonreuters.com cmr

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