BEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuters) - London aluminium prices fell for
the first time in six sessions in early Asian trade on Thursday,
after U.S. President Donald Trump allowed relief on aluminium
import quotas from Argentina.
Trump, who put in place tariffs on steel and aluminium
imports in March, signed proclamations allowing relief from the
quotas on steel from South Korea, Brazil and Argentina and on
aluminium from Argentina, the U.S. Commerce Department said in a
statement on Wednesday.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME ALUMINIUM: Three-month aluminium on the London Metal
Exchange fell 0.7 percent to $2,157 a tonne by 0213 GMT,
after jumping 1.8 percent in the previous session. It hit a
two-month high of $2,178 on Thursday and has climbed for five
straight days on rising input costs for smelters.
* SHFE ALUMINIUM: The most-traded October aluminium contract
on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.2 percent to
14,930 yuan ($2,187.55) a tonne. It earlier rose as much as 0.5
percent towards Thursday's two-month high of 15,100 yuan.
* OTHER METALS: LME copper edged down 0.2 percent to
$6,077 a tonne, while in Shanghai copper was trading
0.6 percent lower. Shanghai lead was the biggest
gainer, rising 1.4 percent on concerns of a tightening
environmental crackdown in China.
* GRAPHIC: Copper prices have recovered from a recent rout,
but the possibility of the trade dispute between Washington and
Beijing escalating and its potential to crimp demand in China,
the world's top consumer, is expected to cap gains.
* CHILE: Striking workers at state-owned Codelco's Andina
copper mine have rejected their employers' latest contract
offer, the company and union said on Wednesday.
* FREEPORT: Indonesia will extend a special mining permit
for PT Freeport Indonesia for another month to September, Energy
and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan told reporters on
Wednesday.
* ANTO: Antofagasta Plc expects its board to
approve a $1.3 billion expansion of its Los Pelambres copper
mine before the end of the year with construction starting in
January, the Chilean miner's chief executive officer said on
Wednesday.
