NEW YORK/LONDON: Copper shed more than 3 percent on Wednesday, after a credit rating downgrade of Spain added another layer of macro pressure tied to Europe's debt debacle and the health of the global economy.
Copper fell for a third-straight day, extending a reversal from Monday's three-week high and failing to react to a pair of strikes at two major mines owned by Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc, which have already reduced production rates and could place a further strain on a market already in a production deficit.
"We are seesawing with global sentiment ... the market is completely preoccupied by the whole euro zone story and we will have this uncertainty until the Oct. 23 crisis summit when we expect they will announce some kind of coherent plan," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst at VTB Capital.
"I'm hoping copper will start trading on its own fundamentals, because it will be interesting to see what will happen when the Chinese have to replenish their stocks."
London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month copper plunged $239, or 3.2 percent, to close at $7,210 a tonne.
In New York, the key December COMEX contract finished with a loss of 10.20 cents, or 3 percent, at $3.2580 per lb. The session range spanned $3.2385 to $3.3775.
Copper has lost more than 6 percent of its value so far this week, with data showing a declaration in China's third-quarter growth fueling the bearish momentum.
"I think there is a bit of concern about demand from China. This week we saw relatively weak GDP numbers and of course copper is the most China-sensitive base metal," Danske Bank analyst Arne Lohmann Rasmussen said.
"At the moment, the market's trading on global themes, global risk appetite. Maybe we are moving into slightly calmer waters when we can start focusing on more specific issues, but this week it is about the European debt crisis and what is going to happen at the summit."
Efforts to secure a deal to tackle the euro zone debt crisis are stalled over methods to increase the firepower of the region's bailout fund, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday.
A downgrade of Spain's debt rating by Moody's ratings agency served as another reminder to European leaders that they must make rapid progress on solving their debt problems.
With macro-economic pressures dominating the broader market sentiment, there is a disconnect between the financial markets' view of copper and underlying physical markets, Freeport's chief executive said on Wednesday.
"On a global basis, the physical markets are much stronger than you would see as indicated by the financial markets' reactions ... that's driven by these macro economic factors that create a lot of uncertainty over where the marketplace is going," CEO Richard Adkerson told Wall Street analysts on a third-quarter earnings conference call.
Earlier, the company posted better-than-expected quarterly profit as weak copper prices were offset by soaring gold and it was able to hold down mining costs.
STRIKES AT MINES
Copper inventories in LME warehouses rose 250 tonnes to 452,175 tonnes, latest data showed. Levels are about a third higher since December.
News that Freeport-McMoRan has threatened to close its strike-hit Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the world's second largest, could provide a floor for prices.
The miner lowered its 2012 copper sales forecast to 3.9 billion pounds, down from September estimate of 4.0 billion pounds.
The company's Cerro Verde mine in Peru has also been plagued by a labour dispute. Talks between management and union leaders are scheduled for Thursday in what would be a final bid to end a 20-day-old strike.
"Production disruptions at large copper operations in Peru and Indonesia have extended, while the loss of output continues to rise. This keeps the physical copper market tightly supplied," Credit Suisse said in a note.
"While fundamentals speak in favour of firmer prices, lacking technical momentum and the uncertain macro environment continue to flag risks for a short-term retracement."
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