Industrial metals traded in a tight range on Tuesday as investors continued to be worried about demand for metals as well as global growth, amid a lack of progress in the prolonged U.S.-China trade war and weak manufacturing data from the world's top economies.

Weak manufacturing data in China, the United States and the euro zone, as well as U.S. planned tariffs for goods from Mexico and an unresolved trade war between Beijing and Washington have been clouding investors' sentiment in the past weeks.

“Markets do not like uncertainty and unrest and that is precisely what they are being served up at the moment,” said Malcolm Freeman of Kingdom Futures in a note.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange edged up 0.2 per cent to $5,854 a tonne by 0402 GMT, while the most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.3 per cent to 46,300 yuan ($6,703.05) a tonne.

* London aluminium was unchanged, nickel edged down 0.1 per cent , zinc decreased 0.5 per cent and lead fell 0.1 per cent . Shanghai aluminium declined 0.7 per cent , nickel fell 1.2 per cent and zinc slipped 2.1 per cent .

* CLEAN TEQ: Australian mine developer Clean Teq said it has started looking for partners for its nickel, cobalt and scandium project in central New South Wales, amid a boom in demand for battery metals.

* ALUMINIUM: Top aluminium producers have offered Japanese buyers premiums of $115-$120 a tonne for July-September primary metal shipments, up 10 per cent -14 per cent from the current quarter, amid tighter supply, sources told Reuters on Monday.

* TIN: LME tin stockpiles rose to their highest since November as of Friday at 3,185 tonnes, latest data showed. London tin prices eased 0.4 per cent to $19,075 a tonne.

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