Copper joined the rout that has pummelled oil and iron ore, dropping to its lowest level in five-and-a-half years yesterday after aggressive selling by Chinese speculators.
铜加入了继石油和铁矿石之后价格暴跌的行列。在中国投机商大举抛售之后，昨日铜价跌至五年半以来的最低点。
The industrial metal, seen as a bellwether for global economic growth because of its extensive use in construction and electrical applications, fell as much as 6.6 per cent in London — its biggest one-day fall in almost six years — after futures dropped more than 7 per cent in Shanghai.
铜作为一种工业金属，广泛应用于建筑和电子设备，因而被视为全球经济增长的风向标。在上海期铜价格下跌逾7%之后，伦敦铜价的跌幅多达6.6%，创下近6年来的最大单日跌幅。

Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange was down $173, or 3 per cent, at $5,600 a tonne, having hit $5,353, the lowest level since July 2009.
伦敦金属交易所(LME) 3个月后交货的期铜价格下跌173美元（跌幅为3%），至5600美元/吨，并曾触及5353美元/吨，这是自2009年7月以来的低点。
“There was massive selling overnight, which has prompted more selling on the LME,” said David Wilson, analyst at Citi.
花旗(Citi)分析师戴维•威尔逊(David Wilson)说，“大量隔夜卖盘促使伦敦金属交易所出现更多抛售。”
Copper is the latest commodity to suffer in the wake of a collapse in the price of oil and worries about slowing global growth. It has been under pressure since the start of the year, sliding 12 per cent and breaking below $6,000 a tonne for the first time since 2009 this week.
油价的崩盘以及对全球增长放缓的担忧，使铜价成为最新的受害者。铜价自年初以来备受压力，累计下跌12%，本周跌破6000美元/吨的水平，这是2009年以来的首次。
A combination of oil price jitters, negative sentiment toward commodities and lower physical demand in China ahead of the lunar new year have been behind the fall.
油价暴跌引发的紧张不安、对大宗商品的悲观情绪以及中国春节之前实物需求下降，是本轮铜价下挫的原因。
“If you put all those things together . . . you get set up for this type of tumble,” said one trader. “People have seized on the bearish sentiment to give copper a push and see how far they could take it.”
“如果你把所有这些都放在一起……这种暴跌是难免的，”一名交易商称。“有人抓住了看空情绪，推了铜价一把，看看他们可以把它压低到什么程度。”
Vivienne Lloyd, analyst at Macquarie, said Chinese funds had “won a battle” yesterday. “Most of the selling was in the first hour of trading. The funds were looking for the stop losses [orders to sell], found them and the price plunged through it.”
麦格理(Macquarie)分析师薇薇恩•劳埃德(Vivienne Lloyd)称，中国资金昨日“赢得一个回合”。“大部分的抛售都发生在开盘后第一个小时。这些资金在寻找止损点（卖出委托单），发现了它们，导致价格猛跌。”
However, analysts said the sell-off had been overdone. Unlike crude oil, the copper market is not grappling with a supply glut and consumption in China, the world’s largest user of the metal, rose to a record last year.
然而，分析师表示，此轮抛售做得有些过头。与原油不同，铜市场不存在供应过剩，而去年中国的铜使用量创下了纪录。中国是世界上最大的铜消耗国。
Forecasters have been reducing expectations for a surplus this year because of production issues at large mines. Macquarie expects a refined surplus of just 98,800 tonnes.
由于大型铜矿的生产问题，预测机构已在降低对今年出现供应过剩的预期。麦格理预计仅有9.88万吨的精铜剩余。
“That’s a rounding error,” said Ms Lloyd. “It can be wiped out in a pen stroke by China’s State Reserves Bureau, and the SRB is a price-sensitive buyer.”
“这是可以忽略不计的，”劳埃德说。“中国国家物资储备局(SRB)轻易就可以解决掉，而该局是一个对价格敏感的买家。”