BEIJING, April 26 (Reuters) - London aluminium slipped 1.3
percent lower 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 over 18 percent from the seven-year
high of $2,718 it hit on April 19 in the wake of the sanctions,
which left the market fearing a supply shortage.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME ALUMINIUM: Three-month aluminium on the London Metal
Exchange was down 1.3 percent at $2,217 a tonne, as of
0219 GMT, after ending 0.8 percent higher on Wednesday.
* SHFE ALUMINIUM: The most-traded June aluminium contract on
the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged down 0.4 percent to
14,380 yuan ($2,273.30) 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, falling 2.8 percent to 23,735 yuan a tonne
and touching its lowest since April 18. It tracked a 2.4 percent
plunge in LME zinc on Wednesday after inventories in LME
warehouses MZN-STOCKS surged by 28,150 tonnes or 15.5 percent.
* 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.
* VALE: Vale SA, the world's largest iron ore
producer, posted a 36 percent slump in first-quarter profit
compared to the same quarter a year earlier, missing estimates,
as costs rose and iron ore prices slipped, results showed on
Wednesday.
