(Updates prices)
April 18 (Reuters) - Shanghai tin prices leapt over 10%
in intraday trade on Tuesday to hit their highest in more than
two months, supported by supply fears after a major ore
producing region in Myanmar issued a ban on mining activities.
The most-traded May tin contract closed up 7.3% at
222,700 yuan ($32,399.80) a tonne, after earlier climbing as
much as 10.5% to 229,490 yuan a tonne, its highest since Feb. 3.
Benchmark three-month tin on the London Metal Exchange rose 2.3% to $28,000 a tonne at 0704 GMT, after rising
as much as 3.9% to $28,440 a tonne, a level unseen since Feb. 3,
earlier in the session.
Myanmar's ethnic minority Wa militia will suspend all work
at mines in areas it controls from August, an information
official from the militia force, the United Wa State Army, said
on Monday.
The Wa state is the biggest tin mining producing area in
Myanmar, the world's third-largest producer of the soldering
metal.
LME copper advanced 0.3% to $8,990 a tonne,
aluminium rose 1.2% to $2,406 a tonne, zinc advanced 0.3% to $2,841 a tonne and lead increased 0.2%
to $2,117.50 a tonne, while nickel fell 0.9% to $24,480
a tonne.
SHFE copper fell 0.4% to 69,780 yuan a tonne,
aluminium rose 1.3% to 19,000 yuan a tonne, nickel was up 0.4% at 188,720 yuan a tonne, zinc fell
0.4% to 22,350 yuan a tonne and lead dipped 0.1% to
15,365 yuan a tonne.
Yangshan copper premium fell to $27.50 a
tonne, its lowest since March 13, indicating declining demand
for imported copper into China, as imports arbitrage was mostly
shut.
China's copper demand has been slowing over the past two
weeks compared to the previous month due to weak export orders,
but it is still stronger on a year-on-year basis, said China
copper demand analyst He Tianyu at CRU Group.
China's economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the
first quarter, but March industrial output expanded slightly
below expectation and fixed asset investment grew slower than
expected in the first three months.
The data suggested that the infrastructure sector and the
property market have still not fully recovered, while China's
economy is still in a recovery, the CRU Group analyst said.
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(Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
mai.nguyen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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