Shanghai aluminium drops to over 4-mth low as supply fears ease
Nov 5 (Reuters) - Aluminium prices fell on Friday, with the Shanghai contract hitting its lowest in more than four months, as rising coal output in China eased worries about the metal's supply.
Aluminium smelting is an energy-intensive process and China is the world's biggest producer of the metal.
The most-traded December aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange tumbled as much as 7.1% to 18,535 yuan ($2,895.14) a tonne, the lowest since June 22.
Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange dropped as much as 1.4% to $2,518 a tonne, its weakest level since Aug. 19.
China's daily coal output hit 11.2 million tonnes on Wednesday, rising around 1 million tonnes from early October, close to a record high this year amid a raft of measures to ramp up production, according to the country's state planner.
Thermal coal futures on China's Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange have plunged more than 50% from a historic high of 1,908.2 yuan per tonne logged on Oct. 19.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME nickel rose 0.4% to $19,210 a tonne at 0247 GMT, ShFE copper fell 1.2% to 69,430 yuan a tonne, ShFE zinc declined 2.8% to 22,965 yuan a tonne and ShFE lead shed 1.1% to 15,560 yuan a tonne.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Chinese markets dragged on Asian shares as they failed to latch on to a global record-setting rally after a week in which central banks around the world refrained from any hawkish surprises in a boost to the dollar.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0700 UK Halifax House Prices MM Oct
0700 Germany Industrial Output MM Sept
1230 US Non-farm Payrolls Oct
1230 US Unemployment Rate Oct
1230 US Average Earnings YY Oct ($1 = 6.4021 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)
