????多倫多市場研究機構CIBC World markets的大宗商品分析師彼得?布坎南說：“中國占全球銅需求超過40%，其他基礎金屬的需求占比也相當高。我認為未來一兩年下行風險可能高于上行風險。”

????布坎南稱，金屬價格下跌“肯定會直接改善很多公司的盈利狀況”。他說，中國是這個等式中重要的組成部分，但歐洲經濟狀況也同樣重要。

????蘇格蘭皇家銀行（Royal Bank of Scotland）駐倫敦的大宗商品分析師尼高斯?卡瓦利斯認為，金屬拋盤更多是投機性賣盤，而不是供求基本面的問題。

????他說，電纜電線等銅下游制造商今年早些時候還在苦苦掙扎，勉強度日。卡瓦利斯說：“毫無疑問，銅密集型行業現在的狀況已經要好很多了。”

????但他警告稱，隨著供應狀況趨緊，2012年銅價可能會出現反彈。他說：“我們預計中國經濟將軟著陸。”

????"China accounts for over 40% of global copper demand and a substantial proportion of other base metals as well," says Peter Buchanan, a commodities analyst at CIBC World markets in Toronto. "In the next year or two I think there is probably more downside risk than upside."

????Buchanan notes that a fall in metals prices "would certainly help the earnings of a large number of companies directly." China is an important part of the equation, but so is what happens in the European economy, Buchanan says.

????Nikos Kavalis, a commodity analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland in London, says he believes the selloff in metals was more about speculators selling commodities rather than a fundamental issue of supply and demand.

????He says that manufacturers that use copper such as cable and wire makers were struggling to survive earlier in the year. 'Without a doubt, copper-intensive industries have it much better right now," Kavalis says.

????He warns, however, that he is expecting a rebound in copper prices in 2012 as the supply situation tightens. "We're expecting a soft landing in China," he says.