Aluminum sag to six-year lows on China demand concern

Aluminum dropped to the lowest since 2009 as demand concerns mounted on the outlook for slower growth in China, the world’s biggest user. Stocks in Shanghai tumbled the most in three weeks as Chinese investors lowered expectations for further monetary stimulus after data showed home-price gains are spreading. The Asian nation, which consumes about half of aluminum, is growing more slowly than official data suggest.

“China’s sharply lower stock prices makes everyone nervous, and the overall situation for copper is concern that global demand is going to continue to deteriorate,” said Bill O’Neill, a partner at Logic Advisors in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. “The Chinese situation is crucial for metals in general, and there’s little incentive to buy the market.”

Aluminum fell as much as 1.2 percent to $1,549.50 a ton, also the lowest since July 2009. China’s economy expanded 6.3 percent in the first half of 2015, compared with the 7 percent officially reported, according to the median estimate of economists .

“The market seems much more concerned about the demand side,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “It’s very much about the sentiment of the market and that has been quite bad.”

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