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Chinese aluminium prices sunk 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 fell to 50 in November, missing market expectations and down from 50.2 in October. The 50-point mark is considered neutral territory, indicating no growth in activity or contraction on a monthly basis.
Aluminium
The most traded aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell as much as 0.6 per cent to 13,590 yuan ($1,956.55) a tonne, the lowest since October 10, 2016, and stood at 13,610 yuan a tonne as of 0152 GMT. The metal is heading for a 2.8 per cent drop in November.
Norwegian metals maker Norsk Hydro had said on Thursday it expects global primary aluminium demand growth to slow next year, and that the company was being impacted “heavily” by an output slowdown at a key alumina plant in Brazil.
Copper
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was flat at $6,210 a tonne, heading for a monthly rise of 3.6 percent, while the most traded ShFE copper contract edged up 0.1 per cent to 49,550 yuan a tonne.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo had called on Thursday for an “immediate” end to issues holding up the country's plans to acquire a majority stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc's giant Grasberg copper mine in Papua.
Chile's Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, had said on Thursday that mine output fell 3 per cent in the first nine months of the year as ore grades sharply declined, leading to a 12 per cent drop in pretax profit.
Shanghai nickel was the top performer, seeing over 380,000 lots of trade and rising by 1.6 per cent to 91,070 yuan a tonne. It tracked a 2.4 per cent jump in London nickel in the previous session.
Share markets ticked slightly lower in early Asian trade on Friday as investors await a closely watched meeting between the Chinese and US presidents in Argentina this weekend for signs of a trade war detente.
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