The base metals were all slammed on Thursday. Copper held steady until the New York open, then headed straight down for the rest of the day, finishing at its intraday low of $2.636/lb., down 17 cents. Nickel also plunged, but started earlier and fell more steeply, closing at $6.6776/lb., down 36½ cents.

Zinc was off sharply in New York selling, ending at $0.7061/lb., down just under 3 cents. Aluminum plummeted toward the $1 mark, pulling up just short at $1.0207/lb., down 5¼ cents, while lead’s woes continued, as it dropped a penny and three-quarters, to $0.7633/lb.

It was all ugly numbers for the industrial metals yesterday, with copper leading the way by falling to a fresh 19-month low. Aluminum sought out a 31-month low, zinc neared a 3-year low, and nickel hit lows not seen since April, 2006.

The selloff was as general as could be. In addition to the slumps in precious metals and oil, soybeans dropped to an 11-month low, wheat was at its 14-month low, and lumber skidded to a 17-year low.

Many analysts said there was no need to look further than the dollar surge.

“The dollar is making an amazing move at the moment — it is one of the key reasons why the market has turned around,” said analyst Dan Smith of Standard Chartered.

Aluminum has also been hurt by the weakness in the auto industry, as all the major manufacturers are reporting declines in sales of 30% or more.

“Auto makers are major consumers of aluminium and the outlook for this sector in the United States looks very bad. Inventories are rising and people are focusing on oversupply,” said Barbara Lambrecht, analyst at Commerzbank.

As the U.S.’s economic problems spread internationally, Steve Platt, of Archer Financial Services in Chicago, asked: “The key question is, has sentiment changed that emerging markets are not going to be there to show the stronger demand trends?”

In company news, Teck Cominco (TCK) says it will reorganize its mining business into five units and change its name next year. The company will become Teck Resources Ltd., and the business will be reorganized into separate divisions for copper, metallurgical coal, zinc, gold, and energy.

Source: Base metals battered, too -  Aluminum, especially, hurt by slumping auto sales