BEIJING, April 25 (Reuters) - London aluminium dropped as
much as 1.4 percent on Wednesday, retreating for a fifth
straight session, as the softening of the U.S. sanctions on
Russian producer United Company Rusal continued to
weigh on prices.
The metal has now slipped by around 13 percent from a high
of $2,534.50 on April 23, the day the United States gave
American customers of Rusal more time to comply with sanctions.
While traders watch for more news on Rusal, Norsk Hydro
is scheduled to release earnings on Wednesday, "so the
market awaits potential updates regarding the situation at
Alunorte," broker Marex Spectron said in a note, referring to
the company's 51 percent-owned alumina plant in Brazil.
Alunorte, the world's biggest alumina refinery, was ordered
to shut half of its output in late February amid a probe into
allegations the site contaminated local water supplies. Norsk
Hydro has warned this could impact its aluminium production in
Norway.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME ALUMINIUM: Three-month aluminium on the London Metal
Exchange was down 1.2 percent at $2,200 a tonne, as of
0458 GMT, having closed down 3 percent on Tuesday. Earlier in
the session, it touched a low of $2,196.
* SHFE ALUMINIUM: The most-traded June aluminium contract on
the Shanghai Futures Exchange was up 0.3 percent at
14,465 yuan ($2,294.28) a tonne by the mid-session interval,
rising for the first time in four days.
* RUSSIA: Russia's En+ Group, owned by recently sanctioned
businessman Oleg Deripaska, said its chief executive officer and
its chief financial officer resigned on Tuesday, with
replacements appointed to both posts.
* NICKEL: London nickel climbed 1 percent to $14,130 a
tonne, trading higher for the first time in five days after
falling 8.4 percent from April 19 as fears of sanctions
spreading eased.
* FREEPORT: Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc fell more
than 14 percent on Tuesday after the miner revealed onerous
environmental demands from Indonesia's government that could
delay a new contract for its massive Grasberg copper mine.
* CUBA: Cuba forecasts nickel plus cobalt sulfide production
will exceed 50,000 tonnes this year even as prices rise, the
head of the country’s state monopoly Cubaniquel was quoted by
local media as stating on Tuesday.
