Base metals all down again last night some as much as 2%! Oil also smashed. Cancer in commodities still eats away. Eventually it will die and prices will recover but until then its reigning havoc on commodity producers around the world. More mines set to close.... but when??
From Bloomberg via SMH.
Copper down 1.5pc on bleak China demand outlook
Date October 20, 2015 - 6:22AM
'Copper fell after data showing a slowdown in China's economic growth revived fears about demand in the world's top metals consumer.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed untraded in official rings but was last bid 1.5 per cent down at $US5205 a tonne, as fresh worries over demand growth in China weighed on the metals complex. In New York, copper futures for December delivery slid 1.5 per cent to $US2.3675 a pound on the Comex.
The world's second largest economy grew 6.9 per cent in the third quarter, slightly better than forecasted but down from 7 per cent in the previous three months. This marked the Chinese economy's slowest rate of expansion since the global financial crisis.
Concerns were deepened by declining growth rates in key segments of the economy that typically drive copper demand. China's industrial output in September climbed 5.7 per cent from a year earlier, compared with a 6.1 per cent gain in August and economists' median estimate of 6 per cent, government data showed. A separate report showed the slowest quarterly growth in the economy since 2009. Shares of mining companies fell, with Anglo American dropping the most this month in London trading.
"People are realising that, despite all the cutbacks, we're not out of the woods yet," said Edward Meir of INTL FCStone. "There's still a lot of metal around and a lot of production."
A series of output cuts by miners have recently helped copper prices rebound from six-year lows touched in August.
But the market has seen persistent pressure from worries over a slowdown in China, which accounts for nearly half of global copper consumption.
"Metals demand growth in China is coming down structurally, which should continue to cause headwinds for metal prices," said Carsten Menke, analyst at Julius Baer.
Copper prices were also pressured by a dollar that continued to climb after rebounding last week on fresh hopes that the US Federal Reserve may still raise interest rates this year.
A stronger dollar weighs on the market by making metals denominated in the currency more expensive for non-US buyers.
On the supply side, inventories in LME-approved warehouses rose by 625 tonnes to 293,575 tonnes on Monday. Stocks have fallen 21 per cent since August but remain up nearly 66 per cent this year.
Among other metals, aluminium closed 1.4 per cent down at $US1549.50 a tonne. Zinc dipped 0.4 per cent to $US1794, lead eased 1.1 per cent to $US1791 and tin fell 0.5 per cent to $US15,950.
Nickel closed 2 per cent lower at $US10,380 a tonne. Nickel prices have fallen nearly 30 per cent this year, weighed by ample stocks and subdued stainless steel demand.
Low prices and output cuts in other metals markets have raised expectations of a similar move by nickel miners.
"Given that so many nickel mines are out-of-the-money, we should reasonably expect to see a large supply-side response, probably well before now," Morgan Stanley said in a note.
With Bloomberg.
(20min delay)
