By Claudia Carpenter Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Copper and aluminum fell to three- year lows in London as consumption of industrial metals in the housing and automobile industries tumbles. Demand for commodities including copper and aluminum is down 20 percent to 30 percent this quarter from a year earlier, according to Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. analyst Andrew Keen. U.S. housing starts fell to a record in October and General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. are cutting output. ``We're probably in the middle of what is the worst quarter of demand,'' Keen said from London. ``The downturn is very significant.'' Aluminum for delivery in three months fell $42 to $1,835 a metric ton by 10:04 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange, the lowest since Sept. 20, 2005. Copper declined $110 to $3,480 and earlier changed hands at $3,464 a ton, the lowest since Aug. 10, 2005. Inventories of copper have soared 42 percent since Oct. 1 and aluminum supplies jumped 25 percent to more than 1.7 million tons, the highest since Dec. 20, 1994. Supplies increased even as producers including Alcoa Inc., the biggest U.S. aluminum company, cut output because of weakening demand and prices. ``It's very tough to bring the market back into balance at the moment,'' Keen said. Rio Tinto Group, BHP Billiton Ltd., Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc will probably reduce capital spending by $12 billion next year to $20 billion, he added. Stockpiles of tin gained another 540 tons to 4,365 tons and zinc inventories increased 1,350 tons to 185,050 tons, the first advance this week. The three-month tin contract fell $505 to $11,400 a ton and zinc dropped $43 to $1,140 a ton. Lead slipped $35 to $1,195 a ton and nickel fell $250 to $10,000 a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net or ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

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