(Adds Shanghai closing prices, updates London prices)
BEIJING, April 26 (Reuters) - London aluminium slipped again
on Thursday, after snapping a four-day losing streak in the
previous session, as the deadline extension to comply with U.S.
sanctions on Rusal, one of the world's biggest
aluminium producers, pulled down prices.
The metal is down by around 18.3 percent from the seven-year
high of $2,718 it hit on April 19 in the wake of the
announcement of the sanctions, which left the market fearing a
supply shortage.
All other base metals were also trading lower, with the
dollar near 3-1/2-month highs, making metals more expensive for
holders of other currencies.
Barring any further sudden announcements from U.S. President
Donald Trump that affect metals markets, "trading price levels
should start to return to natural levels, with the logical
exception of physical aluminium premiums", Malcolm Freeman, CEO
of Kingdom Futures, wrote in a note.
The U.S aluminium premium on Comex was at 21.4
cents per pound ($472 a tonne) on Wednesday, slightly down from
a three-year high of 21.5 cents a tonne.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME ALUMINIUM: Three-month aluminium on the London Metal
Exchange was down 1.1 percent at $2,219.50 a tonne, at
0736 GMT, having earlier touched an intraday low of $2,211.
* SHFE ALUMINIUM: The most-traded June aluminium contract on
the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 0.5 percent
at 14,365 yuan ($2,272.08) a tonne.
* RUSAL: The London Metal Exchange said on Wednesday it
would analyse the implications of U.S. sanctions in relation to
Rusal's metal after the Treasury Department gave customers of
the aluminium producer more time to comply.
* ZINC: Shanghai zinc was the biggest loser in the
base metals complex, closing down 3 percent at 23,685 yuan a
tonne, tracking a 2.4-percent dip in London zinc on
Wednesday after LME zinc stocks MZN-STOCKS surged by 28,150
tonnes. LME zinc was down again, by 0.8 percent, on Thursday.
* ANGLO AMERICAN: Diversified miner Anglo American
opened an office in Shanghai on Wednesday, a company spokesman
said, boosting its presence in the world's top consumer of
commodities.
* NICKEL: Global demand for nickel is expected to increase
to 2.34 million tonnes in 2018 versus 2.19 million in 2017, the
International Nickel Study Group (INSG) said on Wednesday.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
or
MARKETS NEWS
* Asian stocks were supported on Thursday by robust
corporate earnings that helped Wall Street quell concerns about
the surge in U.S. bond yields. However, sagging Chinese shares
limited the upside potential of the market.
PRICES
BASE METALS PRICES 0736 GMT
Three month LME copper 6964.5
Most active ShFE copper 51590
Three month LME aluminium 2219.5
Most active ShFE aluminium 14360
Three month LME zinc 3111
Most active ShFE zinc 23690
Three month LME lead 2305
Most active ShFE lead 18220
Three month LME nickel 13995
Most active ShFE nickel 103330
Three month LME tin 21355
Most active ShFE tin 146760
BASE METALS ARBITRAGE
LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 274.25
LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1930.12
LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 261.56
LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 426.42
LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 -1118.77
($1 = 6.3224 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips,
Gopakumar Warrier and Joseph Radford)
