BEIJING, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Chinese aluminium prices fell to
their lowest in more than two years on Friday and were on course
for a third successive monthly drop, as stalling manufacturing
growth compounded plentiful supply amid relatively lenient
winter output curbs.
China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 50
in November, missing market expectations and down from 50.2 in
October.
Shanghai aluminium is heading for a 3 percent drop this
month, which has seen two-year lows hit several times, leaving
smelters in China struggling to turn a profit and leading some
to cut output even without being ordered to do so on
environmental grounds.
Despite the poor PMI data, other metals rose ahead of the
crunch meeting between the presidents of China and the United
States at the G20 in Argentina.
In China, "we are moving into an 'all bad news is good news'
scenario as a multi-lever policy response is now expected," John
Browning, managing director of Bands Financial, wrote in a note.
FUNDAMENTALS
* ALUMINIUM: The most traded January aluminium contract on
the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell as much as 0.8
percent to 13,560 yuan ($1,953.27) a tonne, the lowest since
Oct. 10, 2016.
* ALUMINIUM: Norwegian metals maker Norsk Hydro
expects global primary aluminium demand growth to slow next year
and says it is being impacted "heavily" by an output slowdown at
a key alumina plant in Brazil.
* COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
edged up 0.2 percent to $6,226.50 a tonne by 0459,
heading for a monthly rise of 3.9 percent, while ShFE copper
contract climbed 0.4 percent to 49,680 yuan a tonne.
* CODELCO: Chile's Codelco, the world's largest copper
producer, said mine output fell 3 percent in the first nine
months of the year as ore grades sharply declined.
* NICKEL: Shanghai nickel was the top performer,
rising 2 percent to 91,460 yuan a tonne after LME nickel
jumped 2.4 percent on Thursday. ShFE nickel is still down 7
percent in November and heading for its worst month since
September 2017.
