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London aluminium prices fell more than 3 per cent on Monday after a Brazilian court approved emergency waste measures that could allow the world's biggest alumina refinery to resume production.
Norsk Hydro has been granted a permit in Brazil to use new technology to extend the life of a disposal area for its troubled Alunorte alumina refinery, the world's largest, which should lead to the restart of 50 per cent of production, the firm said on Saturday.
“China can definitely increase its exports of alumina to fill the void created by Alunorte's shutdown,” said analyst Helen Lau of Argonaut Securities in Hong Kong. “This looks like speculative selling around news flow.”
London Metal Exchange aluminium fell for a third session, dropping 3.6 per cent to $2,053 a tonne. Prices on Thursday had climbed to $2,267 a tonne, the highest since June on expectations that the world's biggest alumina plant would be curtailed for months.
Higher alumina prices have helped to lift aluminium prices. Alumina prices surged to $620 from $459 the week before on expectations Alunorte would be wound down until some time next year, cutting market supply.
China's stocks fell sharply on Monday despite Beijing's weekend announcement that it will slash the level of cash that banks must hold as reserves, a sign of underlying investor anxiety over a heated Sino-US trade war.
The dollar edged higher on Monday as China followed an easing in domestic policy by allowing its yuan to fall, though the drop was not as sharp as some had feared. LME copper traded flat at $6,170 a tonne.
The Shanghai Futures Exchange reopened after a week-long holiday. SHFE zinc rallied by 3 per cent before cutting gains to 1.5 percent, at 21,905. Trade is expected to be lighter and more volatile this week with much of the metals and mining industry in London for the sector's biggest week of meetings, LME week.
Shares in Asia staggered on Monday as China's markets stumbled despite its central bank moving to pump more liquidity into the broader economy, as worries grow of a sharp knock to growth from an escalating trade dispute with the United States.
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