BEIJING, March 6 (Reuters) - Shanghai zinc prices fell to
their lowest since December on Tuesday, tracking a decline on
the London Metal Exchange (LME) after LME warehouse inventories
rose and on-warrant zinc stocks - those not earmarked for
delivery - nearly doubled.
The metal, used to galvanise steel, is also coming under
pressure from looming U.S. tariffs on steel imports.
FUNDAMENTALS
* SHFE ZINC: The most traded April zinc contract on
the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 2.5 percent at 25,335
yuan ($3,998.07) a tonne at 0206 GMT, on course for its biggest
daily drop since October. It earlier touched 25,210 yuan a
tonne, its lowest since Dec. 15.
* LME ZINC: Zinc in London was up 0.1 percent at $3,298.50 a
tonne after hitting a 2018 low in the previous session.
Stocks of zinc in LME warehouses MZN-STOCKS
jumped by 59 percent on Monday to 209,050 tonnes, while
on-warrant levels nearly doubled to 162,825 tonnes.
* LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal
Exchange was up 0.4 percent ar $6,936 on a weaker
dollar, extending a 0.2 percent gain in the previous session. A
weaker greenback makes metals cheaper for holders of other
currencies and can support prices
* SHFE COPPER: The most-traded April copper contract on the
Shanghai Futures Exchange edged up 0.1 percent to
52,180 yuan a tonne.
* TRUMP: U.S. President Donald Trump faced growing pressure
on Monday from political and diplomatic allies as well as U.S.
companies urging him to pull back from proposed steel and
aluminum tariffs, although he said he would stick to his guns.
* INDONESIA: Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has
instructed his administration to complete negotiations over the
purchase of a majority stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc's
local unit by the end of April, a cabinet minister said on
Monday.
* COBALT: Australia's Celsius Resources, which has
made Namibia's first cobalt discovery, is aiming to start
production from the remote mine in 2020, the company's managing
director said.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
or
MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares regained some ground on Tuesday after U.S.
President Donald Trump faced growing pressure from political
allies to pull back from proposed steel and aluminium tariffs,
easing investor worries about an imminent trade war.
PRICES
BASE METALS PRICES 0206 GMT
Three month LME copper 6936
Most active ShFE copper 52180
Three month LME aluminium 2143.5
Most active ShFE aluminium 14355
Three month LME zinc 3297.5
Most active ShFE zinc 25335
Three month LME lead 2415
Most active ShFE lead 18510
Three month LME nickel 13465
Most active ShFE nickel 102290
Three month LME tin 21540
Most active ShFE tin 147070
BASE METALS ARBITRAGE
LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 1166.41
LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1416.07
LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 584.09
LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 38.59
LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 1710.92
($1 = 6.3368 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Tom Daly; editing by Richard Pullin)