Copper advances on supply worries in Chile
By Mai Nguyen
Aug 10 (Reuters) - Copper rose on Tuesday on supply threats in top producer Chile after workers at a mine walked off the job and as mediation talks at the giant Escondida mine extended in an effort to avoid a strike.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.9% to $9,454.50 a tonne by 0712 GMT.
The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dipped 0.2% to 69,550 yuan ($10,737.83) a tonne, tracking losses overnight in London.
"The market is facing the possibility of strike action across multiple operations in Chile, including the huge Escondida copper mine," said ANZ analysts in a note.
BHP Group Ltd and the union of workers at its Escondida copper mine, the world's biggest, said on Monday they would extend government mediated contract talks for an additional day in a last-ditch effort to stave off a strike.
Workers at JX Nippon Copper's Caserones mine in Chile will walk off the job from Tuesday after last-ditch talks over a collective labour contract collapsed on Monday, the union said.
FUNDAMENTALS
* New power consumption restrictions imposed by southern China's Guangxi region on aluminium producers at the weekend could temporarily shut down about half a million tonnes of annual smelting capacity, consultancies said.
* Yangshan copper premium <SMM-CUYP-CN> rose to $60 a tonne, its highest since March 26, indicating improved demand for importing the metal into top consumer China.
* The discount of LME cash aluminium on the three-month contract <CMAL0-3> expanded to $9.23 a tonne, its biggest since July 23, indicating that tightness in nearby supplies has eased.
* LME aluminium rose 0.7% to $2,566.50 a tonne, lead advanced 1% to $2,280 a tonne, zinc increased 0.9% to $2,977 a tonne and nickel was up 1.2% at $18,845 a tonne.
* ShFE nickel shed 1.5% to 140,120 yuan a tonne, tin jumped 2.7% to 236,720 yuan a tonne, aluminium edged up 0.2% to 19,950 yuan a tonne and zinc rose 0.3% to 22,430 yuan a tonne.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click or ($1 = 6.4771 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Amy Caren Daniel)
