* Aluminium resistance seen at $1,870
* Aluminium cancelled warrants and large holding in focus
* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: (Adds official prices, updates lead)By Pratima DesaiLONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Aluminium prices climbed totwo-week highs on Thursday after news of production shutdowns atone of the country's biggest smelters fuelled worries aboutsupplies from top producer China.Benchmark aluminium on the London Metal Exchange(LME) ended up 0.3 percent at $1,860 a tonne. Earlier the metalused widely in transport and construction touched $1,871, itshighest since May 3."Aluminium prices have been lifted by output cuts, due toregulatory, environmental reasons," said Julius Baer analystCarsten Menke, adding that the impact on the global marketremained to be seen."But this is something that has made aluminium bears awarethat prices are not a one-way street
SHUTDOWN: Xinfa Group, one of China's biggest aluminiumsmelters, is closing all production lines on its 2.8 milliontonnes per year alumina refinery in Shanxi for an unspecifiedperiod amid an environmental dispute, causing alumina prices tospike. Alumina can account for up to a third of aluminiumproduction costs. Prices of alumina have risen more than 10percent to more than 3,000 yuan ($436) a tonne over the pastfour weeks. Jackie Wang, analyst at metals consultancy CRU in China,
expects alumina prices to remain high, providing support toaluminium prices.SHANGHAI: Aluminium on the Shanghai Futures Exchange(ShFE) touched a seven-month high of 14,395 yuan a tonnein early Asian trade.China is the world's largest aluminium consumer. It is alsothe world's largest producer, accounting for 57 percent ofglobal output estimated at more than 64 million tonnes in 2018.Aluminium stocks in warehouses monitored by ShFE, at about600,000 tonnes, have fallen nearly 40 percent over the pastyear.TECHNICALS: Support for LME aluminium kicks in around the21-day moving average of $1,835.Resistance is at $1,870, where the 50-day and 100-day movingaverages are converging."Funds have been covering their short positions, some arereversing into longs," one aluminium trader said, adding that itcould take several attempts to break above $1,870.WARRANTS: A large holding of aluminium warrants, between 30and 39 percent, is fuelling concern about supplies on the LMEmarket. This is reinforced by cancelled warrants -- metal earmarkedfor delivery -- at 414,525 tonnes, amounting to 35 percent oftotal aluminium stocks of 1.24 million tonnes inLME-approved warehouses.POLICY: Expectations that China would roll out more policystimulus provided some positive sentiment on metals markets.LEAD: Lead outperformed the base metals complex, ending up1.3 percent at $1,837 a tonne on talk of capacity cuts in Chinadue to environmental concerns.PRICES: Copper gained 0.2 percent to $6,100 a tonne,zinc added 0.4 percent to $2,637 and tin slipped1.9 percent to $19,470.Nickel did not trade at the close and there were no bids oroffers. It was little changed at $12,155 on the LME's electronictrading system.($1 = 6.8785 Chinese yuan renminbi)
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Top Base and Precious Metals Analysis - GFMS Mud row pushes Chinese alumina to 2019 highs ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Pratima Desai; Additional reporting by Mai Nguyenand Zandi Shabalala; Editing by David Goodman, Mark Potter andKirsten Donovan)