SINGAPORE: Copper fell on Wednesday as a concrete solution to Europe's debt struggle remained elusive with a European Central Bank official saying the crisis has significantly worsened, further clouding the outlook for industrial metal demand.
"The situation in Europe and the world has significantly worsened over the past few weeks," ECB governing council member Christian Noyer said at a conference in Singapore. "Market stress has intensified."
"We are now looking at a true financial crisis -- that is a broad-based disruption in financial markets."
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dropped 1.3 percent to $7,395.25 a tonne by 0314 GMT.
LME copper has fallen more than 7 percent in November and is down 23 percent this year, its first annual decline since 2008 when the global financial crisis tripped the global economy.
Some investors may have written off this year given the increased volatility in metals prices due to the continuing uncertainty in Europe that has lifted borrowing costs in the region to record highs and is threatening to push the global economy into a recession, analysts said.
"Some have decided it's too hard, it's too dangerous in this environment. I think a lot of people are happy to miss the first 10 percent of a recovery," said Citigroup analyst David Thurtell.
"They might miss the turning point when it eventually comes, but they just want to get some surety in their decision making, they want a clearer picture of the global economy.
ECB TO THE RESCUE?
The most briskly traded February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 1 percent to 54,880 yuan a tonne.
A meeting among euro zone ministers pointed to the possibility of seeking the International Monetary Fund's help to boost the region's rescue fund after Italy's borrowing costs hit a euro lifetime high of nearly 8 percent, suggesting far more needs to be done to resolve the European sovereign debt crisis.
"At this stage, there may be no other choice but for the Europeans to aim high and strive for an ambitious fiscal union, but unlike previous plans that are moving at a snail's pace, markets must be convinced that the follow-through will be quick and immediate," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.
"Failing that, the ECB has to make its presence felt more strongly, as once again debt markets are under pressure."
A Reuters poll of economists forecast a 60 percent chance of the European Central Bank cutting interest rates next week and a 40 percent possibility of the ECB stepping up bond-buying within six months from struggling euro zone economies using freshly created money.
The continuing uncertainty in Europe eclipsed US data that showed consumer confidence rebounding in November from a 2-1/2-year low last month, and Japanese factory output rising more than expected in October.
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