I understand that (and I know what a bellwether is), but was there not a trend of most manufacturing concerns to move AWAY from Chinese-manufactured/produced metals because of the now well known shoddy quality of them?
I don't think that would depress the price...rather it would exacerbate a supposed shortage.
'Course, doesn't explain the small drop in the price of gold.
On the other hand, I still haven't figured out the reasoning behind the constant fluctuation of the price of gasoline as related to the price of oil, but...
An economist, I am not.
The drop in price is not limited to Asian deliveries.
Goods and products are made with materials.
The market for those materials is world-wide, i.e. copper, zinc, oil, wheat, etc. are bought and sold in bulk all over the world. Hence, they are termed commodities.
Manufacturers, anticipating demand for the final products, will buy, not buy, or sell commodities in quantity. Consumers do not buy commodities, except as speculators, so the only real market are manufacturers - or some government agencies to a very minor extent.
When demand for commodities drops, it is seen by market observers as a nearly pure indicator that manufacturers anticipate a falling consumer demand.
Ergo, this drop in commodity demand, unless reversed soon, will result in: fewer miners, fewer transportation workers, fewer factory workers, fewer retail clerks, i.e. fewer jobs.