BEIJING, March 30 (Reuters) - Shanghai copper prices edged
up on Friday as the dollar weakened, making metals cheaper for
holders of other currencies, but were set to post their steepest
quarterly drop since 2013 after recent fears of a U.S.-China
trade war spooked markets.
The London Metal Exchange is closed on Friday and Monday for
the Easter holiday.
FUNDAMENTALS
* SHFE COPPER: The most-traded May copper contract on the
Shanghai Futures Exchange was up 0.5 percent at 49,900
yuan ($7,949.91) a tonne by 0220 GMT.
* SHFE COPPER: Shanghai copper is on course to lose 11.2
percent this quarter. That would mark its worst quarterly
performance since the second quarter of 2013, with a 5.8 percent
drop in March alone - its worst month since November 2015.
* SHFE ALUMINUM: The most traded May aluminium contract on
the ShFE was down 0.9 percent at 13,665 yuan a tonne.
It earlier touched 13,630 yuan a tonne, and is on track for its
worst quarter since the second quarter of 2010 after winter
supply cuts in China were below expectations.
* CHILE: A union representing the majority of workers at
Codelco's Radomiro Tomic mine in Chile has rejected a
final offer for a new labour contract, forcing a period of
government-facilitated mediation, the company said on Thursday.
* CODELCO: Chile's state copper company Codelco said on
Thursday it produced 1.734 million tonnes of copper in 2017, its
second highest output ever, despite persistently low ore grades
at its ageing mines.
* RIO: Swiss prosecutors on Thursday confirmed they were
checking whether "questionable payments" to an ex-Mongolian
finance minister were linked to Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi
mining project, adding the Anglo-Australian mining company was
"not an accused".
* ALUMINIUM: Japan's aluminium industry on Thursday called
for the United States to scrap import tariffs on aluminium,
claiming that they are against international rules and pose a
serious problem for the industry and global trade and economic
growth.
* DRC: International mining firms including Glencore
and <Randgold RRS.L> on Thursday proposed a sliding
scale for royalty rates on key commodities mined in Democratic
Republic of Congo as an alternative to a windfall tax.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
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MARKETS NEWS
* Stocks steadied on Thursday, after a woeful week for major
technology companies, even as global equities careened towards
their first quarterly drop in two years.
PRICES
BASE METALS PRICES 0220 GMT
Most active ShFE copper 49900
Most active ShFE aluminium 13705
Most active ShFE zinc 24765
Most active ShFE lead 18655
Most active ShFE nickel 98740
Most active ShFE tin 142720
BASE METALS ARBITRAGE
LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 633.03
LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -915.44
LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 381.4
LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 207.09
LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 -582.56
($1 = 6.2768 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Tom Daly
Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.