* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns:
* Aluminium slips to 29-month low
* Strike at Codelco's Chuquicamata mine provides support (Recasts with closing prices)By Pratima DesaiLONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Copper prices recovered onMonday, boosted by a mine strike and weak Chinese output, butother industrial metals were pressured by nervousness about thedamage to growth and demand from the U.S.-China trade dispute.Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)gained 0.5% to $5,848 a tonne in closing open outcry tradingafter earlier sinking to an intraday low of $5,776.Prices of the metal used widely in power and constructionhit a five-month low of $5,740 a tonne earlier in June.But LME three-month aluminium finished 0.3 percentweaker at $1,758.50 after touching $1,745, the lowest sinceJanuary 2017."Fears of decelerating global growth and recession becauseof the trade war have hit sentiment in the mining sector," saidBernstein analyst Paul Gait. "The risk-off malaise is what weare seeing."
CHINA COPPER: Helping to buoy sentiment for copper was adecline in China's refined copper output in May by 5.2% year onyear and 3.9% month on month to 711,000 tonnes. "China may have to import more copper to meet domesticdemand," one copper trader said.CODELCO: A strike at Codelco's Chuquicamata mineafter labour negotiations failed is also providing support forcopper prices. Codelco is the world's top producer of the metal. TIGHT MARKET: Analysts at Morgan Stanley say the copperconcentrate market is already tight but hits to supply areovershadowed by macroeconomic risk and trade tensions, which arenow visible in slowing copper demand."Year to date, not including any loss of supply fromChuquicamata, which Codelco says can continue to operate at 50%capacity during the strike, we estimate that supply losses arerunning at close to 3% - well ahead of our 5% annual allowance,"the analysts said."Weak consumer goods, automotive and electronics end-usesectors are weighing on consumption of refined copper,particularly impacting key exporting nations such as Japan andSouth Korea."
TRADE: An influential Chinese Communist Party journal onSunday ran a commentary piece saying the United States hasunderestimated China's will to fight a trade war and Beijing isprepared for a long economic battle. DEMAND: Recent data from top consumer China shows coolingindustrial activity, which is highly correlated with thecountry's demand for industrial metals. China accounts for nearly half of global copper demandestimated at about 24 million tonnes this year.DOLLAR: The U.S. dollar was modestly lower on Monday on weakeconomic data, but remained near a two-week high set earlier inthe session. A weaker U.S. currency makes dollar-denominated metals lessexpensive for importers, potentially supporting demand.
PRICES: Zinc closed 0.7% firmer at $2,470 a tonne,lead gained 1.1% to $1,886, tin lost 1.3% to$18,950 and nickel, untraded in closing rings, was down0.8% at $11,775 in electronic trading.<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Top Base and Precious Metals Analysis - GFMS Shanghai nickel spot premiums jump to highest since Jan 2018 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Pratima Desai; additional reporting by EricOnstad, Editing by David Goodman and Ed Osmond)