BLBG: Copper Tumbles to Lowest Since January 2005 as Demand Dwindles
By Millie Munshi
Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices fell to the lowest since January 2005 on concern that the deepening global recession will reduce metal demand through next year.
Confidence in the world economy fell in December as the economic contraction spread, a survey of Bloomberg users on six continents showed. Copper supplies outpaced demand by 30,600 metric tons in the 10 months ended Oct. 31, the World Bureau of Metal Statistics said today. The metal is down more than 55 percent this year, heading for a record annual decline.
“There is no doubt that the outlook for metals demand over the next few quarters is grim,” analysts at Barclays Capital said in a report today. “Copper is the metal we would identify as having the furthest downside potential from current levels.”
Copper futures for March delivery dropped 2.85 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $1.35 a pound at 9:19 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the price touched $1.3285, the lowest since Jan. 4, 2005.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months dropped $101, or 3.3 percent, to $2,969 a metric ton ($1.35 a pound). The price reached a record $8,940 on July 2.
To contact the reporter on this story: Millie Munshi in New York at mmunshi@bloomberg.net
