(Adds broker comment, updates prices)
BEIJING, April 25 (Reuters) - London aluminium dropped as
much as 1.6 percent on Wednesday, retreating for a fifth
straight session as the softening of U.S. sanctions on Russian
producer United Company Rusal continued to weigh on
prices.
The metal has now slipped by around 13 percent from a high
of $2,534.50 on April 23, the day the United States gave U.S.
customers of Rusal more time to comply with sanctions.
Most other base metals also fell on a stronger dollar, which
makes metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.
The three-month prompt delivery London Metal Exchange (LME)
contracts are now in late July and "moving toward the summer
shutdown season, (so) metals could well come under further
pressure and drift lower," Malcolm Freeman, CEO of Kingdom
Futures, wrote in a note.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME ALUMINIUM: Three-month aluminium on the London Metal
Exchange was down 1.4 percent at $2,197 a tonne at 0721
GMT, having closed down 3 percent on Tuesday. Earlier in the
session, it touched a low of $2,191.
* SHFE ALUMINIUM: The most-traded June aluminium contract on
the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell for a fourth day,
closing down 0.1 percent at 14,405 yuan ($2,282.52) a tonne.
* RUSSIA: Russia's En+ Group, owned by recently sanctioned
businessman Oleg Deripaska, said its chief executive officer and
its chief financial officer resigned on Tuesday, with
replacements appointed to both posts.
* ALNORTE: Norsk Hydro ASA has halted alumina
output at two of seven production lines at its Alunorte alumina
refinery in Brazil, its CEO said on Wednesday.
* NICKEL: London nickel climbed 0.5 percent to $14,060 a
tonne, trading higher for the first time in five days after
falling 8.4 percent from April 19 as fears of sanctions
spreading eased.
* FREEPORT: Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc fell more
than 14 percent on Tuesday after the miner revealed onerous
environmental demands from Indonesia's government that could
delay a new contract for its massive Grasberg copper mine.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares fell on Wednesday as a rise in U.S. bond
yields above 3 percent and warnings from bellwether U.S.
companies of higher costs drove fears that a boom in corporate
earnings may be near its peak.
PRICES
BASE METALS PRICES 0721 GMT
Three month LME copper 6968.5
Most active ShFE copper 51530
Three month LME aluminium 2197
Most active ShFE aluminium 14405
Three month LME zinc 3194
Most active ShFE zinc 24160
Three month LME lead 2317
Most active ShFE lead 18215
Three month LME nickel 14045
Most active ShFE nickel 103300
Three month LME tin 21070
Most active ShFE tin 146010
BASE METALS ARBITRAGE
LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 312.42
LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1735.93
LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 158.03
LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 402.45
LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 -1474.85
($1 = 6.3110 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier, Sherry
Jacob-Phillips and Joseph Radford)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.