* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: (Updates with closing prices)By Eric OnstadLONDON, May 13 (Reuters) - Lead prices sank to the lowest innearly three years on Monday on worries that industrial metalsdemand would suffer from renewed U.S.-Chinese trade tensions.Aluminium saw the lightest losses after reports of reducedsupply of raw material alumina from China.Metals slid along with other financial markets after thetrade war between the world's top two economies ratcheted up agear and China said it planned to boost import tariffs against$60 billion worth of U.S. goods. "Trade frictions weigh on future demand expectations soyou're naturally going to get caution on asset allocations forcommodities on the whole and base metals in particular," saidColin Hamilton, director of commodities research at BMO Capital.Lead was hard hit partly because seasonally this was theweakest period for lead demand while recycled supply washealthy, Hamilton added.
Benchmark lead on the London Metal Exchange slid 2%at $1,785 a tonne in closing open outcry trading, its lowestsince Aug. 9, 2016.
* CHINESE ALUMINA: Alumina output would be curtailed inChina's Shanxi province due to environmental issues, accordingto reports. "To me, it looks like that's going to take out about4% of Chinese alumina capacity," Hamilton said.
* ALUMINIUM PRICE: Reduced alumina supply and higher pricesfor the raw material to make aluminium helped to liftthree-month aluminium , the only LME metal in positiveterritory, by 0.1% to end at $1,809 a tonne.
* COPPER PRICES: LME copper fell 1.9% to finishat$6,011 a tonne, the weakest since Jan. 29. The net speculativeshort position on the LME had expanded to 2.1% of open interest,back to levels not seen since late January, Alastair Munro atbroker Marex Spectron said in a note.
* COPPER SMELTER MAINTENANCE: Copper prices could gain somesupport from falling output in China as some smelters there arescheduled to go into maintenance in May, said copper analyst HeTianyu of metal consultants CRU.
* COPPER DEFICIT: The copper market should see a deficit of189,000 tonnes this year, widening to 250,000 tonnes in 2020,the International Copper Study Group said.
* CHINA CARS: Also weighing on metals prices was datashowing that vehicle sales in China, the world's top automarket, fell 14.6% in April annually, marking the 10thconsecutive month of decline.
* OTHER PRICES: LME zinc dropped 2.4% to finishat$2,567 a tonne, the lowest since Jan. 22, tin fell1.5% to $19,325 and nickel , untraded in closing rings,was bid down 1.3% to $11,770.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click or <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Top Base and Precious Metals Analysis - GFMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by Mai Nguyen in Singapore; editing byEmelia Sithole-Matarise and Stephen Powell)