Copper prices have fallen 10 percent in 2010Created: 7/14/2010 6:05:18 PMThe price of copper fell for the first time in six business days on Monday after a third straight month of falling Chinese imports. Economists worry if China continues to slow its economy and become more conservative on import spending, the metal market will struggle.
“The import numbers out of China were discouraging,” Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist, told Bloomberg Businessweek. “There’s a lot of uncertainty for copper.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index saw its four-day growth come undone as copper dropped 1.7 percent on the London Metal Exchange, the report relays. Copper and product shipments into China decreased by 17 percent from May to June, leading to an overall 10 percent drop in copper prices in 2010.
Copper is an essential ingredient for many of the world’s audiovisual, internet and communications cables. Its current market slump, combined with an increasing worry of slowing demand, may signal a rough six months ahead for makers of coaxial cables and other copper-made products.
Cabling Industry News