FUNDAMENTALS
* ALUMINIUM: The most traded July aluminium contract on the
Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as much as 0.5% to 14,420 yuan ($2,092.43) a tonne, the highest since Oct. 26, and stood at 14,370 yuan a tonne as of 0147 GMT. London aluminium was down 0.5% at $1,850.50 a tonne after hitting a two-week high in the previous session.
* ALUMINA: Alumina prices in northern China <SMM-ALM-NCHN> have now exceeded 3,000 yuan a tonne and touched their highest since Dec. 10.
* CHINA: Prior to the shutdowns, China's alumina output rose 4.2% y/y to 6.28 million tonnes in April, according to data released on Thursday. The figure is the highest monthly total on records on the bureau's website since June 2017.
* HYDRO: A Brazilian federal court has lifted one of two production embargoes on Norsk Hydro's Alunorte alumina refinery, the company said on Thursday, raising hopes that full production can soon resume.
* COLUMN: Chinese outages a reminder of aluminium's dirty secret: Andy Home
* OTHER METALS: Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.3% at $6,080.50 a tonne, while the rest of the LME complex was also trading lower, except for tin.
* COPPER: Polish mining company KGHM may produce more copper than planned at its Sierra Gorda mine in Chile in 2019, while keeping capital expenditure below target, its deputy chief executive in charge of foreign assets said.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares were trying to end a bleak week in the black on Friday as upbeat U.S. economic news and solid company earnings offered a respite from the interminable Sino-U.S. trade saga.