(Updates with closing prices)By Eric OnstadLONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Aluminium prices dropped onFriday, pressured by concern over excess supply after the topproducer said it would resume some output, while some basemetals were weighed down by weak Chinese factory data.Other metals climbed, however, with zinc hitting its highestlevel in nearly seven months.
China Hongqiao Group , the world's top aluminiumsmelter, said it would gradually restart production after theexpiration of some government-mandated output curbs. "We haven't seen significant production cuts this year andwe've been expecting to see additional supply after theexpiration of the limited cutbacks," said Ross Strachan, seniorcommodities economist at Capital Economics."There is also new capacity coming on stream both withinChina and elsewhere in the world, particularly a very largeexpansion in Bahrain."Benchmark aluminium on the London Metal Exchangeshed 1.4 percent to $1,883 a tonne in closing open outcrytrading, down 2 percent on the week.
* CHINA PMI: China's factory activity shrank by the most inalmost three years in January as new orders slumped further andoutput fell, a private survey showed, reinforcing fears that aslowdown in the world's second-largest economy is deepening. "Generally we're confident that there will be significantlyslower growth over the next six months. You've got the weakestcredit growth in China for a decade and that does tend to leadto weak demand, so that's why we see further downside in almostall the industrial metals," Strachan said.
* COPPER: Three-month LME copper slipped 0.5 percentto end at $6,139 a tonne, having hit a seven-week high in theprevious session. The metal, widely used in manufacturing andconstruction, gained 1.3 percent this week.
* CHILEAN COPPER: Top copper miner Codelco said it hadstruck a contract deal with the union of supervisors at itsGabriela Mistral mine in northern Chile, averting the threat ofa strike.
* TRADE TALKS: U.S. President Donald Trump said he wouldmeet China's Xi Jinping soon to try to seal a comprehensivetrade deal, citing substantial progress.
* ZINC/NICKEL: Zinc and nickel firmed after prices of steelraw materials in China climbed to multi-month peaks on Friday,buoyed by supply disruption issues. LME zinc , mainly used to galvanise steel, climbed
2.2 percent to finish at $2,777 a tonne, its highest since July4, amid tight LME inventories. LME stocks have more than halvedover the past five months.Nickel , largely used for making stainless steel,gained 1.4 percent to $12,660, its highest since Oct. 22.
* OTHER METALS: Lead rose 0.7 percent to close at$2,127 a tonne while tin added 0.2 percent to $20,890.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click or (Additional reporting by Muyu Xu and Tom Daly in Beijing;Editing by Susan Fenton and David Goodman)