Sept 16 (Reuters) – Aluminium prices rose on Thursday as talks of fresh output curbs in top producer and consumer China fueled concerns about supply disruptions.
Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange CMAL3 edged up 0.2% to $2,899 a tonne by 0241 GMT, while the most-traded October aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SAFcv1 advanced 2% to 22,735 yuan ($3,534.07) a tonne.
Both contracts have risen about 45% so far this year, hit by supply worries mostly from China.
Aluminium producer Shaanxi Nonferrous Yulin New Material will have to reduce its output by 50% in September as part of energy consumption controls, according to a local government document posted by consultancy MySteel.
The company has a smelting capacity of around 600,000 tonnes per year. Shaanxi Nonferrous Yulin and a local government official were not immediately able to comment on the document.
China’s aluminium output in August slipped for a fourth straight month, as restrictions on metal production and power usage in key smelting hubs kept supply tight.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME copper CMCU3 fell 0.7% to $9,561 a tonne, nickel CMNI3 dropped 2% to $19,620 a tonne while ShFE copper SCFcv1 rose 0.6% to 70,230 yuan a tonne, ShFE tin SSNcv1 jumped 2.4% to 260,020 a tonne and ShFE nickel SNIcv1 eased 0.2% to 146,210 yuan a tonne.
* Top copper producer Codelco said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement on a labour contract with a union representing workers at its small Salvador division in northern Chile.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or MET/L MARKETS NEWS
* The dollar drifted near the middle of its range of the past month versus major peers, as traders looked to next week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting for indications on how soon the U.S central bank will start to taper stimulus. DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
1230 US Initial Jobless Clm Weekly
1230 US Philly Fed Business Indx Sept
1230 US Retail Sales MM Aug
($1 = 6.4331 yuan)
(Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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