BEIJING: Shanghai aluminium prices were steady and finding support on Monday after a blast last week in Guinea stirred concerns over the supply of the raw material bauxite to metal producers.
The London market is closed for the Christmas holiday.
The most-traded February aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as much as 1.5% to a two-month high in early trading, although it subsequently eased to trade 0.3% lower at 19,060 yuan ($2,671) per metric ton as of 0307 GMT.
Aluminium prices rose in London last Friday, with the benchmark contract hitting its highest in almost three months due to supply concerns after a fuel depot blast early last week in Guinea, a major bauxite producer.
The SHFE February alumina contract climbed on Monday to a record high of 3,329 yuan.
SHFE copper was unmoved at 69,040 yuan a metric ton, tin lost 1.4% to 206,870 yuan, zinc added 0.3% to 21,275 yuan and lead moved up 0.5% to 15,705 yuan.
Nickel was down 1.4% at 179,710 yuan. Market participants are assessing the possible impact on nickel and stainless steel production after a fatal explosion at a smelter furnace in Indonesia, the world’s top nickel producer.
Thirteen workers were killed and 38 injured on Sunday in the explosion at a facility on Sulawesi island owned by Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel (ITSS).