METALS-Shanghai aluminium hits 5-week high, London prices pull back

(Recasts, updates prices) BEIJING, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Shanghai aluminium futures scaled a five-week high on Wednesday, supported by tightness in raw materials supply, while prices in London pulled back after a seven-session rally. The most-traded October aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SAFcv1 was up 0.5% at 19,765 yuan ($2,771.70) a metric ton, as of 0437 GMT, after hitting a five-week high of 19,855 yuan earlier in the day. Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange CMAL3 was down 0.6% at $2,487 per ton. It hit a five-week peak in the previous session on tightening supplies of bauxite and alumina. Shipments from Guinea, the world's top bauxite producer, were hit by the rainy season. And, ex-China production cuts also lowered global supplies of alumina. SHFE alumina futures were down 1.9% after supply jitters sent them to their highest levels in nearly three months on Tuesday. Regardless of raw material supply woes, macro-economic factors dominated price movements, traders said. Market participants are now waiting for U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments on Friday for clues about the speed of the U.S. monetary easing cycle. Meanwhile, weak market fundamentals could cap gains for aluminium, analysts said, pointing to the higher-than-usual stocks in China and still weak demand. Analysts at Sinograin noted demand recovery from electric vehicle and solar sectors and said destocking might take place late this month when overall consumption of the light metal ratchets up. LME copper CMCU3 shed 0.1% to $9,213 a ton, tin CMSN3 gained 0.2% to $32,350, zinc CMZN3 increased 0.2% to $2,811, lead CMPB3 climbed 0.7% to $2,068 and nickel CMNI3 lost 0.4% to $16,975. SHFE copper SCFcv1 was down 0.4% at 73,620 yuan, zinc SZNcv1 moved 0.5% lower to 23,395 yuan, lead SPBcv1 nudged 0.1% up to 17,570 yuan, tin SSNcv1 climbed 0.2% to 264,840 yuan and nickel SNIcv1 added 1% to 131,220 yuan. For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L ($1 = 7.1310 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Subhranshu Sahu) (([email protected];)) (( For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview RING= COMEX copper futures 0#HG: All metals news MTL All commodities news C Foreign exchange rates FX= SPEED GUIDES LME/INDEX ))