Shanghai aluminium fell to a 17-month low on Friday and was on track to end the quarter with its steepest quarterly drop since mid-2010 following a relentless build-up in Chinese inventories.

The metal has declined 10.7 per cent in the first three months of the year after an 8.7 per cent drop in the previous quarter, when underwhelming winter supply cuts in top producer China took the steam out of an earlier rally.

Deliverable Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) aluminium stocks are at a record high of nearly 1 million tonnes, while US tariffs on Chinese aluminium and the prospect of a trade war between the two countries has also hit sentiment.

The London Metal Exchange is closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter holiday. On Thursday, London aluminium hit a near eight-month low, closing just above $2,000 a tonne.

The most traded May aluminium contract on the ShFE was down 0.5 per cent at 13,730 yuan a tonne at 0525 GMT. It earlier touched 13,630 yuan a tonne, its lowest since late October The most-traded May ShFE copper contract was up 0.6 per cent at 49,970 yuan a tonne on a weaker dollar, which makes metals cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Shanghai copper has shed 11 per cent so far this quarter, its worst performance since the second quarter of 2013. It has declined 5.7 per cent in March alone, the sharpest monthly fall since November 2015, as trade war concerns spooked metals markets.

Nickel was the only one among the five key Shanghai base metals set to end the quarter higher. It has gained 2 per cent, while zinc has declined 3 per cent and lead was down 1.6 per cent.

China’s top copper smelters had on Friday cut their minimum treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for copper concentrate by 10.3 per cent for the second quarter of 2018, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

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