The copper market seems to be losing some of it’s previous resilience in what must count as a worrying development. Heightened fears of a renewed global recession has led to demand for the industrial metal to drop off. Copper is generally used by those within the metal industry to get a gauge on the overall health of economic activity in the industry, so any shortfall is sure to cause a worry.

The news comes off the back of Codelco, the Chile based copper producer, announcing that some of its clients in both the US and Europe have been forced to cancel orders with the company. They claim that this highlights that many companies are experiencing some level of debt that is forcing a level of austerity that could lead to the market dropping.

They point out that weakening demand from these major territories is “a major problem for the global economy” as it is more than likely that other territories will follow suit, leading to the global market for copper suffering.

The price of the metal has also hit a one month low that has fallen below the $4 (£2.50) a pound mark as of the beginning of this week.