Aluminium prices rise as Brazil court upholds partial shutdown at top refinery

SINGAPORE, Nov 8 (Reuters) – London aluminium prices rose on Thursday to add to sharp gains from the previous session, with a federal court in Brazil upholding the partial shutdown of the world’s largest alumina refinery, run by Norsk Hydro. The decision is part of a months-long environmental dispute with Brazilian authorities, after Norsk Hydro admitted to making unlicensed emissions of untreated water during severe rains in February. The rise also came after the U.S. Commerce Department said it would impose final anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Chinese common alloy aluminium sheet products of 96.3 percent to 176.2 percent. Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.3 percent at $1,990 a tonne by 0156 GMT, after climbing by 1.8 percent on Wednesday, its biggest single-day gain since Oct. 3. The most-traded January aluminium on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed 0.7 percent to 13,980 yuan ($2,018) a tonne. FUNDAMENTALS: * RUSAL EXPORTS: Russian aluminium producer Rusal, hit by U.S. sanctions since April, raised its aluminium exports by 4 percent in October compared to the previous month, Interfax news agency said. * SANCTIONS: With Democrats securing control of the U.S. House of Representatives at the midterm elections, the sanctions on Russia may be maintained “given Russia has been one of the focal points of the opposition’s attack on the current administration”, Dee Perera of Marex Spectron said in a note. * CHINA DATA: Investors were also looking to Chinese trade data due this morning, which includes numbers on commodity imports. * ZINC: London zinc rose 0.5 percent to $2,466 a tonne, after hitting a seven-week low on Wednesday on expectations of rising supply.