OREANDA-NEWS. October 21, 2011. Copper and zinc led a decline in commodities after China's gross domestic product growth slowed and delays in finding a solution to the euro zone crisis heightened concerns that the global economy will slip into a recession.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell for a second day, zinc tumbled the most in more than two weeks, oil prices shed more than half a percent and spot gold dropped 0.5 percent. Grains, already under pressure due to a pick up in harvest, were also not spared.

China's economic expansion eased slightly in the third quarter to its slowest pace since the second quarter of 2009 as the world's growth engine and top energy consumer strained against tight monetary policy at home and softening demand abroad.

"Fundamentally, demand from China will not collapse but growth will be slower," said Yao Wei, a Hong Kong-based economist at Societe Generale, who forecasts China's gross domestic product growth will slow to 8.3 percent in 2012 from an estimated 9 percent this year.

"If we have a stable global financial backdrop, it will help China better manage its economy."

LME copper lost 2.6 percent to USD 7,299 a tonne by 0736 GMT, after dropping 0.7 percent in the previous session.

Supply disruptions caused by strikes at two Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold mines, including one of the world's largest copper mines in Indonesia, kept a floor under copper prices, which have lost almost a quarter of their value so far this year.

Zinc was the biggest loser among base metals, falling 2.6 percent on the LME and 4.4 percent on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SZNc2.

The weak global economic outlook amid mounting worries about the euro zone debt crisis and news that China's GDP growth eased to 9.1 percent, slightly below forecasts of 9.2 percent, dragged down Asian shares.

Germany said on Monday that a summit of EU leaders next Sunday would not produce a miracle cure for the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis, a warning that pushed down markets after a rise in the past week on expectations of a breakthrough.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told a conference in Duesseldorf that European governments would adopt a five-point plan at the Brussels meeting to address the turmoil that has clouded the outlook for the global economy.

The most-active copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost 2.6 percent to 54,440 yuan (USD 8,545.51) per tonne, after falling 0.2 percent in the previous session.