Aluminium at more than 13-year high on supply concerns

Aluminium prices rose to their highest in more than 13 years on supply worries in top consumer China and fears of disruptions from major bauxite producer Guinea.

Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange advanced as much as 1.6% to $2,837.50 a tonne, the highest since August 2008.

The most-traded October aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped as much as 2.7% to 22,425 yuan ($3,471.25) a tonne, a level unseen since March 2008.

Output curbs in China, the world's biggest aluminium producer, have weighed on stockpile availability, while political turmoil in Guinea, China's top provider of bauxite, added to the nervousness.

Fundamentals

• ShFE nickel hit a record 150,400 yuan a tonne, while LME nickel touched its highest since Feb. 22 at $19,980 a tonne, buoyed by low inventories and demand hopes from the stainless steel sector.

• LME copper advanced 0.7% to $9,312 a tonne at 0334 GMT, LME tin increased 0.9% to $32,505 a tonne, while ShFE copper fell 0.3% to 68,780 yuan a tonne and ShFE tin climbed 2% to 249,990 yuan a tonne.

• Indonesian tin miner PT Timah expects global tin prices to stay above $30,000 per tonne for the rest of the year amid low inventory condition of the metal, finance director Wibisono said on Wednesday.