????多伦多市场研究机构CIBC World markets的大宗商品分析师彼得?布坎南说：“中国占全球铜需求超过40%，其他基础金属的需求占比也相当高。我认为未来一两年下行风险可能高于上行风险。”

????布坎南称，金属价格下跌“肯定会直接改善很多公司的盈利状况”。他说，中国是这个等式中重要的组成部分，但欧洲经济状况也同样重要。

????苏格兰皇家银行（Royal Bank of Scotland）驻伦敦的大宗商品分析师尼高斯?卡瓦利斯认为，金属抛盘更多是投机性卖盘，而不是供求基本面的问题。

????他说，电缆电线等铜下游制造商今年早些时候还在苦苦挣扎，勉强度日。卡瓦利斯说：“毫无疑问，铜密集型行业现在的状况已经要好很多了。”

????但他警告称，随着供应状况趋紧，2012年铜价可能会出现反弹。他说：“我们预计中国经济将软着陆。”

????"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.