Copper Price Slips Further as Chinese Demand Fails to Rise

Copper saw a dip on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday, sliding 1.9 percent to hit $5,675 a tonne, according to Reuters. Earlier in the day, the metal dropped to a three-week low of $5,654.

The dip comes as Chinese demand has failed to pick up following the country’s Lunar New Year, which took place in February. Since that time, the Chinese housing market has fallen at the fastest rate on record.

“China is moving away from a growth-at-all-costs model,” said Nic Brown, head of commodities research at Natixis. “This is fundamentally affecting heavy industries. It’s entirely possible you could see weak apparent demand in 2015 as base metals readjust to the new model.”

According to Investing.com, copper on the Comex saw a drop as well, falling 1.99 percent to hit $2.58 a pound.