BEIJING, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Shanghai aluminium rose as much 2.8 percent to a near two-month high on Thursday, tracking a jump in London in the previous session, as a strike affecting Alcoa’s alumina refineries in Australia and warnings of shutdowns by Rusal supported prices.
The Alcoa plants account for around 9.3 million tonnes of capacity or some 8 percent of the world’s supply of alumina, the substance used to make aluminium.
* SHFE ALUMINIUM: The most-traded October aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was up 2.7 percent at 14,875 yuan ($2,179.68) a tonne, as of 0203 GMT, having earlier touched 14,885 yuan a tonne, its highest since June 13.
* LME ALUMINIUM: Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange rose as much as 1.9 percent to $2,146 a tonne, its highest since June 29, extending a 3.3 percent jump in the previous session.
* ALCOA: Alcoa workers in Western Australia have walked out indefinitely over an enterprise agreement dispute with the aluminium maker, the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) said on Wednesday.
* RUSAL: Russian aluminium giant Rusal is concerned about an impending catastrophe if U.S. sanctions are not lifted, with some of its production halted as early as September, two sources close to the company said.
* TARIFFS: China is slapping additional tariffs of 25 percent on $16 billion worth of U.S. imports from fuel and steel products to autos and medical equipment, the Chinese commerce ministry said, as the world’s largest economies escalated their trade dispute.
* COPPER: Chile’s state copper firm Codelco on Wednesday announced a $4.881 billion investment to convert its open cast Chuquicamata mine into an underground facility.
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* Asian shares were subdued on Thursday after a new round of tit-for-tat tariffs in the U.S.-Sino trade conflict torpedoed oil prices, while the Russian rouble tumbled as the U.S. slapped fresh sanctions on the country.
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
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ARBS ($1 = 6.8244 Chinese yuan)
Reporting by Tom Daly, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips
