Commodity prices are crashing all over: the Reuters / Jefferies CRB index of 19 commodities fell by 6.5 per cent this year, on top of a 7.4-per cent correction in 2006. Crude oil prices went down as low as $51 a barrel recently, as did industrial metals prices. Brent crude has fallen about 13 per cent this year, while copper futures on the London Metal Exchange (LME) have dropped by 10 per cent. Zinc, among the major gainers last year, has fallen by 12 per cent.