Copper plummets; falls to below US$ 3 dollars per pound

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LONDON.- Copper closed with a monumental 4.85% drop today at the London Metal Exchange (LME) after trading for US$ 2.98917 per pound of "grade A" material –the mineral's lowest value so far this year- compared to US$ 3.14158 on Friday and US$ 3.13206 on Thursday of last week.

The value is the lowest reported since December 12th of 2007, when copper closed at US$ 2.97 per pound.

As a result of the price plunge, the monthly average dropped to US$ 3.18336, while the yearly average fell to US$ 3.61704.

"It's the dollar", analyst Leon Westgate of Standard Bank stated while referring to the drop in prices.

Westgate added that the market was focusing on the slumping demand for industrial metals in the United States and Europe and indicated that, even if the consumption in China continues to be relatively high, the future seems uncertain.

"It is now up to the Chinese and it depends on how strongly their economy has been affected by this drop", he declared.

Meanwhile, the future-3-month price for copper ended at US$ 2.97330 per pound, down 4.80% from Friday of last week (US$ 3.12321).

At the LME, stocks decreased by 1,250 metric tons to 198,925.