Copper, aluminium rise as dollar drops in holiday-thinned trade

MELBOURNE, April 30 (Reuters) – London copper and aluminium climbed on Monday as the dollar eased from three-month highs and trade stayed quiet given a holiday in China and ahead of a slew of monthly manufacturing reports from the world’s top user of metals. FUNDAMENTALS: * London Metal Exchange copper edged up by 0.4 percent to $6,827 a tonne by 0022 GMT, following a 2.4 percent loss in the previous session. * The Shanghai Futures Exchange is closed on Monday and Tuesday for a holiday. * ALUMINIUM: Aluminium also edged up by 0.3 percent, having posted its biggest weekly drop on Friday since 2008 at 10.6 percent. That pared April’s gain to 11.3 percent as ructions continue over supply from the world’s second biggest aluminium maker Rusal following U.S. sanctions. * BAUXITE: Guinea’s government said on Friday it had approved plans to award a mining contract to a Netherlands-based company to develop a $1.4 billion bauxite mine. * COPPER: Chile’s Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, said on Thursday early contract talks with its workers’ union ended without an agreement, setting the stage for legally scheduled negotiations to begin in June. * RUSAL: Russian metals giant Rusal will overhaul its board and management in hopes of persuading the United States to lift sanctions but it may be forced to halt aluminium exports for good if the plan fails, sources close to the company said. * COPPER: Hedge funds and money managers raised a net long position in copper futures and options in the week to April 24, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commision data showed on Friday. * Glencore’s mining subsidiaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been served freezing orders for alleged unpaid royalties of nearly $3 billion by a company affiliated with Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler, Glencore said on Friday. * While more than 100 countries take a day off for May Day, U.S. President Donald Trump will spend Tuesday deciding whether to extend a largely U.S.-China trade standoff into a more global dispute.