LME aluminium set for 6th weekly gain amid sanctions on Russia
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Most nonferrous metals gained on Friday, with London aluminium set for a sixth straight weekly gain on supply concerns amid sanctions on Russian metals.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.4% to $9,772 per metric ton by 0615 GMT, having hit a two-year high earlier in the session at $9,843.
The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) advanced 2% to 79,210 yuan ($10,938.64) a ton. It hit an all-time high of 79,840 yuan earlier in the day.
LME aluminium increased 1% to $2,641.50 a ton, nickel was up 1.7% at $18,870, zinc climbed 0.6% to $2,830, and lead advanced 0.7% to $2,194.50.
The LME on Saturday banned from its system Russian metal produced on or after April 13 to comply with new U.S. and UK sanctions imposed for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
On a weekly basis, LME aluminium was up 6%. LME copper was up 3.4% and LME nickel was up 6.2%.
Russia is one of the world's biggest aluminium suppliers and a major nickel producer.
"Base metals showed increased price volatility over the past week, following sanctions on Russian metals imposed by the U.S. and the UK," BMI analysts said in a note.
LME-cancelled warrants - inventories earmarked to be delivered out of the bourse warehouses - surged for copper, aluminium and lead on Wednesday, latest exchange data showed.
This indicated "market nervousness about the new Russian metal sanctions", ING analysts said in a note.
Meanwhile, the escalating Israel-Iran conflict might lend further support to aluminium prices through rising energy costs and disruptions to smelters in the Middle East, two traders said.
SHFE aluminium was down 0.2% at 20,355 yuan a ton, nickel increased 2.1% to 140,310 yuan, lead advanced 2.1% to 17,355 yuan, while zinc fell 0.4% to 22,665 yuan.
LME tin hit a 22-month high at $34,700 a ton, and SHFE tin surged to their highest in May 2022 at 270,730 yuan.
"In addition to being buoyed by supply disruption, significant speculative interest is also providing price support," analyst Tom Langston at the International Tin Association said in a note.
