Copper Futures Drop Most in a Week on Slumping Demand Outlook

LONDON, Oct. 14 -- Copper prices dropped the most in more than a week as equity markets fell and Rio Tinto Group said demand in the U.S. and Europe hasn't recovered.

    The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid as much as 0.9 percent on concern that bank earnings may decline. Some traders follow stock-market movements as a gauge for the broader economy. "For the next six to 12 months, we are somewhat cautious on the market," Bret Clayton, the chief executive officer of Rio's copper business, said today in London.

    "The stock market is down today and copper is following that," said Donald Selkin, National Securities Corp.'s chief market strategist in New York. "Copper can't sustain itself at higher prices, since demand is still fairly weak."

    Copper futures for December delivery fell 6.25 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $2.7945 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division. That marks the steepest drop for a most-active contract since Oct. 1.

    "The U.S. has bottomed out but we're not seeing a pickup in demand yet," Clayton said in an interview. "Some expected a pickup in demand when restocking took place. We haven't seen that yet and we probably don't anticipate that until later this year." The U.S. slid into a recession in December 2007.

    Copper fell as much as 3.5 percent earlier. Losses eased on speculation that mine-labor disputes may disrupt supplies.

    Workers at Chile's Spence copper pit, run by BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest miner, went on strike today after rejecting a pay offer yesterday, a union spokesman said.

    Escondida Settlement

    Employees at the Escondida mine, also in Chile and the world's biggest source of copper, voted today to accept a wage proposal, ending the threat of a strike. BHP has a controlling 57.5 percent stake in Escondida.

    Copper futures have almost doubled this year as imports rose to record levels in China, the world's largest metals user. The nation probably reduced inbound shipments last month, said Barbara Lambrecht, a Commerzbank AG analyst in Frankfurt. Purchases of imported copper and related products fell 20 percent to 325,098 metric tons in August compared with a month earlier, according to a government report.

    "We have seen two months in a row of sharp slowdowns in import demand," Lambrecht said. "We are expecting another fall" to be reported tomorrow.

    Copper for three-month delivery fell $139, or 2.2 percent, to $6,139 a ton ($2.78 a pound) on the London Metal Exchange.

    Among other LME metals for three-month delivery, lead, zinc, tin, aluminum and nickel prices declined.

    (Source: Bloomberg)