Aluminum plunged -8.4% on Thursday, the largest single-day drop since 2018, while copper fell -5.2%, wiping out all gains for the year.

Copper has now fallen -11% in March alone after hitting an all-time high in late January.

Tin dropped -7% and nickel fell over -3%, as every base metal on the London Metal Exchange sold off.

This comes as soaring energy prices from the Iran War are threatening manufacturing activity worldwide, with traders pricing in a broader global economic slowdown.

The longer crude oil prices stay elevated, the more it feeds into inflation and the higher the risk of rate hikes, further pressuring industrial demand.

However, falling metal prices may at some point trigger a wave of buying in China, where manufacturers had been holding back due to high prices earlier this year.

Is the global economy heading into a recession?