Copper, zinc and aluminum plunged by the exchange-imposed daily limit in Shanghai, catching up with losses on international markets in the past week when China's exchanges were closed for holidays.
London Metal Exchange copper slumped 11 percent last week, and futures in New York tumbled 13 percent on concern a US$700-billion financial rescue plan won't prevent a United States recession, dragging down global demand, Bloomberg News said.
Copper for December delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped by 2,140 yuan (US$312), or 4 percent, from the previous settlement price, to 51,210 yuan a metric ton when the exchange opened for trading at 9am local time and stayed at that level for the rest of the day. December-delivery zinc and aluminum in Shanghai also fell by the 4 percent limit to 13,670 yuan and 14,905 yuan a ton respectively.
Jobs cut
Commodities tumbled the most in more than 50 years last week amid weak economic data in the US and Europe.
Employers in the world's largest economy cut jobs by the most in five years in September, manufacturing in the UK contracted at the fastest pace in 16 years last month, while France slipped into a recession in the third quarter for the first time in 15 years.
Raw materials also fell after the euro slid to a 13-month low against the dollar as the deepening credit crunch forced European governments to pledge bailouts of troubled banks and increase protection for depositors.
Inventories in warehouses monitored by London Metal Exchange declined 0.3 percent to 198,500 tons on Friday, and reserves in Shanghai warehouses fell 5.5 percent to 16,130 tons before the holidays.
Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange lost as much as 5.4 percent to US$5,686.25 a ton, and December-delivery copper on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell as much as 4.7 percent to US$2.5645 a pound as of 3pm Singapore time.
Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum dropped 1.8 percent to US$2,297 a ton, zinc was down 2.8 percent at US$1,550, and lead fell 2.9 percent to US$1,670.
Nickel lost 1.5 percent to US$14,925 and tin slipped 2.4 percent to US$16,600.
