SINGAPORE, Nov 19 (Reuters) - London copper was almost
unchanged on Monday as tensions between Washington and Beijing
at a regional summit renewed concerns over a prolonged trade
war, weighing on prices although the market was supported by
tightening supplies.
U.S.-China trade tensions were clearly on display at an Asia
Pacific economic summit in Papua New Guinea over the weekend,
where leaders failed to agree on a communique for the first time
ever.
COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
was almost flat at $6,203 a tonne, as of 0408 GMT, while
the most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange
climbed 0.2 percent to 49,680 yuan ($7,156.34) a tonne.
COPPER SUPPLY: Headline copper inventories in LME-registered
warehouses MCUSTX-TOTAL fell by 5,425 tonnes to 161,025
tonnes, nearing last month's 10-year low of 136,675 tonnes.
PREMIUM: The premium of cash copper over the three-month
contract MCU0-3 drifted to $18.50 from a near four-year high
of $47 last month.
VEDANTA: India's Vedanta Ltd has been selling
copper concentrate on the spot market from stockpiles at its
Sterlite smelter, disposing of around 70,000 tonnes of copper
concentrate unused since the plant closed earlier this year amid
pollution concerns.
DOLLAR: The dollar was modestly lower against its key rivals
on Monday after Federal Reserve officials expressed caution over
the global growth outlook, prompting traders to reassess the
pace of future U.S. interest rate increases.
* LUNDIN: Canadian miner Lundin said it was cutting
106 jobs at its Candelaria copper mine in Chile to "improve
competitiveness and productivity", amid reports that workers had
begun a 48-hour strike.
* BARRICK: Barrick Gold Corp , soon to become the
world's largest bullion miner, is interested in adding more
copper assets as long as the red metal is accompanied by
bullion, executives said on Friday.
* NICKEL: London nickel dropped 1.1 percent to
$11,240 a tonne, after Chinese steel prices dropped to the
lowest in nearly four months on Monday, pressured by
expectations that steel output in the world's top producer will
remain strong as cities impose more flexible production curbs
this winter.
* OUTPUT: Nickel output in the Philippines, a major supplier
of the metal, is expected to increase after the country's
environment ministry said nine suspended mines will be allowed
to resume operations if they rectify previous violations of
environmental regulations.
