JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's mining stocks traded lower on Tuesday as investors were worried the global recession would further soften metal demand. "Japan is in a recession, America is in a recession, we've seen downgrades by brokers on metal prices, and we've seen news that BHP Billiton is heavily hit. I think the stock moves are just a consequence of the recession fears," a trader said. BHP Billiton, the world's No. 3 iron ore miner, said on Monday it had received deferral requests from its customers for up to 5 percent of iron ore output, the latest big miner to feel the effects of declining global steel production. Macquarie Bank joined the list of banks cutting their price outlooks for metals, slashing its 2009 forecasts for copper by 43 percent, according to a research note. "Mining stocks will continue ... lower until the recession goes away, which doesn't seem to be happening in the short term," the trader said. Bourse heavyweight Anglo American fell 4.89 percent to 180.50 rand, while BHP Billiton slid 4.41 percent to 130.18 rand by 0856 GMT. Anglo Platinum fell as much as 6 percent, before recovering to trade 2.6 percent lower at 445 rand, while AngloGold Ashanti lost 2.1 percent to 163 rand.

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