Crude oil prices continue to decline

Crude oil prices fell again Wednesday as oil companies got ready to restart operations after shutdowns ahead of Hurricane Gustav and on predictions that demand will continue to decline in the United States and elsewhere.

West Texas Intermediate crude October contracts dropped 40 cents to $109.31 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping as low as $107.22 per barrel earlier in the session, while at last report Brent crude was down 74 cents to $107.60 per barrel.

Nymex October gasoline was last down 3 cents to $2.70 per gallon while October heating oil had dropped 1 cent to $3.06 per gallon and October natural gas was 1 cent lower to $7.25 per million British thermal units.

Base metals prices were mixed on the session.

Aluminium dropped $19.50 to $2,675.50 per tonne, but most other base metals prices were higher.

December copper was up 4 cents to $3.31 per pound in New York in afternoon trade while three-month copper in London added $75 to $7,345 per tonne as lower prices brought the buyers out.

Zinc was $13 higher to around $1,788 per tonne while lead added $41 to $1,950 per tonne, tin went as high as $19,800 per tonne before settling in to trade in a range around $19,350/$19,400 per tonne, a gain of about $200 on the session and nickel also jumped around $200, to trade around $19,550/$19,600 per tonne.

Precious metals prices were lower.

December gold was $2.20 lower to $808.30 per troy ounce while December silver fell 20 cents to $12.95 per troy ounce and October platinum dropped $11.30 to $1,392.20 per troy ounce.

Grains prices were also mixed.

Prices for corn and soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade were lower after recent rains in the US Midwest were expected to help crop yields in the region after lack of rain in August had hurt conditions assessments on the crops.

CBOT December corn was 8 cents lower to $5.61 per bushel while November soybeans dropped 41 cents to $12.57 per bushel.

On the other hand, CBOT September wheat was up 6 cents to $7.51 per bushel.

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