Shanghai - Nickel plunged to the lowest since 2008 as most industrial metals fell after China took further steps to weaken the yuan.
The metal, used in stainless steel, slumped 15 percent, the most since September 2011, before paring losses.
Contracts for delivery in three months were down 2 percent to $10 545.00 a metric ton as of 11:56 am in London. Tin and lead dropped, while aluminum was little changed. Copper and zinc rose.
“Metals have weak fundamentals and the market took great fright after the central bank unexpectedly cut the reference rate again,” said Fang Junfeng, an analyst at Shanghai Cifco Futures.
China’s decision on Tuesday to devalue the yuan and shift to a more market-determined rate sparked concern that the world’s second-largest economy is faltering.
While the government seeks to bolster the economy, commodities may end up worse off as imports of metals such as copper slow and exports of raw materials such as steel increase into oversupplied markets.
Chinese fixed-asset investment grew at the slowest pace since December 2000 in July, while the rate of expansion for retail sales and industrial production also weakened, data on Wednesday showed.
Tin slid 1.3 percent, the second-biggest decline among the main contracts on the London Metal Exchange. Zinc sank to the lowest in almost four years before recovering. Prices were up 0.2 percent to $1 810 a ton. Copper added 0.2 percent to $5 136.50 a ton.
The Bloomberg index tracking industrial metals has plunged 19 percent in 2015.
BLOOMBERG