Copper rout continues

Copper’s rout continued apace this week as the metal dipped to a fresh six-year low of $4,443.5 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

In New York, copper fell below $2 a pound for the first time since 2009 amid deepening concerns about demand from China, the world’s largest consumer of the metal.

China consumes 40 per cent of global copper production and the slowdown in the economy, coupled with a move towards more consumption-led growth, is hitting hard.

Prices are down 60 per cent from their peak in 2011 and have fallen ten per cent in the last month alone.

Copper is not the only metal in a funk - iron ore has fallen to a six-year low, while nickel sunk to its weakest since 2003.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index, which tracks 22 raw materials, shows commodities from oil to metals have fallen by almost a quarter this year.