Photographer: Dadang Tri/BloombergInvestors are pulling out of industrial-metals funds at the fastest pace in 15 months, signaling increased concern that a faltering global economy will slow demand for everything from cars to appliances. U.S. exchange-traded products backed by the metals saw an outflow of $55 million this month, the most since July 2013, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Hedge funds have bet on lower copper prices for five weeks, the longest stretch since April. London Metal Exchange open interest is the lowest in 19 months for zinc futures and down 10 percent for aluminum this year. A price index of the six main LME metals is heading for a second annual loss, the first time that’s happened since the recession in 2007-2008. Evidence of a slowdown in China, the world’s top metals user, is fueling concern that demand for raw materials will weaken. This month, the International Monetary Fund reduced its 2015 forecast of global growth. “You’re seeing a panic exodus out of those ETFs,” Justin Holland, the managing director of metals trading at BNP Paribas in New York, said in a telephone interview Oct. 28. “The world was going along really nicely, and then all of a sudden, we had a bit of a hiccup because China’s numbers were coming in weaker than expected.” Nickel tumbled 16 percent since the end of July to $15,527 a metric ton on the LME today, and copper fell 4.9 percent to $6,770 a ton. The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials slid 7.1 percent over the same period, while MSCI All-Country World Index of equities dropped 2.5 percent. The Bloomberg Treasury Bond Index gained 1.8 percent. bloomberg