Commodities were set for their worst week in more than four months as copper and tin tumbled on deepening concern that policy makers are running out of tools to avert another global recession, hurting demand for metals, fuel and food. Soybeans dropped. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of 24 commodities lost as much as 0.9 percent to 602.28 before trading little changed at 608.30 by 3:59 p.m. in Seoul, bringing the week’s decline to 6.9 percent, the worst since May 6. The gauge is heading for its biggest quarterly loss since 2008. Copper fell to a more than one-year low and spot gold was set for its worst week since February 2009. Oil was poised for the biggest weekly drop in almost two months. “Markets latched onto the downbeat tone,” Natalie Robertson, a commodity analyst at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., wrote in a report today. “Sentiment is bearish, so we can expect some more selling pressure unless policy circuit breakers are enacted.” Central bankers and finance ministers will discuss the economic outlook today at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington. The Federal Reserve on Sept. 21 said it will replace $400 billion of short-term debt with longer-term Treasuries, saying it sees “significant downside risks” to growth. The world economy will expand 4 percent this year and next, the International Monetary Fund said on Sept. 20, cutting forecasts made in June for a 4.3 percent expansion and 4.5 percent in 2012. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell as much as 7.3 percent to $7,115.75 a metric ton, the lowest price since August last year, and last traded at $7,232.75. Prices declined for a sixth day and have slumped 29 percent from the record $10,190 on Feb. 15. Tin plunged as much as 14.3 percent to $17,000 a ton. China Manufacturing Manufacturing in China, the world’s largest metals user, may shrink for a third month in September, according to a preliminary index of purchasing managers from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics released yesterday. The initial reading for this month was 49.4 compared with a final 49.9 for August and 49.3 for July. Figures below 50 signal a contraction. “It’s all about a lack of confidence,” Jonathan Barratt, a managing director of Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney, said by telephone today. “It’s going to get a little bit darker before the dawn.” November-delivery oil lost as much as 1 percent to $79.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, before rebounding 0.5 percent. The price is still down 8 percent this week, set for the biggest loss since Aug. 5. Soybeans for November delivery dropped 1.7 percent to $12.6175 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Immediate-delivery gold dropped as much as 1.1 percent to $1,720.53 an ounce, the lowest price since Aug. 25 and last traded at $1,735.50. Spot silver tumbled 2.5 percent to $34.98 an ounce. Gold for December delivery decreased 0.9 percent to $1,726.40 an ounce on the Comex in New York. To contact the reporter on this story: Sungwoo Park in Seoul at spark47@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Dobson at rdobson4@bloomberg.net

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