* Report says nickel pig iron output is rising in China
* Copper dips to one-week low
* Zinc only metal in positive territory on stocks fall
(Updates with closing prices, adds nickel balance data)By Eric OnstadLONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Nickel hit a one-month low onThursday, with copper and lead prices also in the red, asinvestors worried about Chinese growth and higher U.S. interestrates.Zinc, meanwhile, bucked the trend with gains on the back oftightened inventory levels.Macroeconomic concerns continued to bedevil the industrialmetals sector, even though many of the metals showed signs ofsupply tightness, said Warren Patterson, commodities strategistat ING Bank in Amsterdam."Generally the base metals complex is under pressure fromoutside influences, such as the Fed comments, which were prettyhawkish," he said, referring to the U.S. central bank.Federal Reserve policymakers are largely united on the needto raise borrowing costs further, minutes from their Septemberpolicy meeting showed, while Chinese Premier Li Keqiang saidChina's economy faced increasing downward pressure, ahead of GDPdata due on Friday."I continue to believe that copper is looking fairly cheap... but as long as we've got this stronger dollar and the threatof further tariffs on Chinese goods, the speculators are lookingat avoiding copper altogether," Patterson added.Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange closed 0.2 percent down at $12,350 a tonne, paring losses aftertouching $12,200, its lowest since Sept. 18.LME copper slipped 1 percent to end at a one-weeklow of $6,157 a tonne.
* COPPER PREMIUM: The Chinese copper premium for physicalmaterial dipped to $117.50 a tonne from $120.
* NICKEL BALANCE: The global nickel market deficit narrowedto 7,100 tonnes in August from the previous month's reviseddeficit of 16,500 tonnes, data showed on Thursday.
* NICKEL PIG IRON: Another negative factor for nickel was areport about rising output of NPI, a lower-nickel-contentsubstitute for refined nickel often used in stainless steel."China's NPI output has (reportedly) climbed to the highestdaily rate in over 4 years in Sept at 43,400 tonnes of containedmetal," Alastair Munro at broker Marex Spectron said in a note.
* INDONESIA TIN: Tin prices were supported by news that theIndonesia Commodity & Derivatives Exchange has suspended tradingof tin ingots and tin ore with origin verified by PT. SurveyorIndonesia. LME tin finished 0.3 percent down at $19,025 atonne.
* ZINC STOCKS: On-warrant LME zinc stocks ,those not earmarked for delivery, tumbled 23 percent to 105,400tonnes, the lowest since February.LME zinc was the only metal to end in positiveterritory, closing up 0.7 percent at $2,683.50 a tonne.
* ALUMINIUM TECHNICALS: LME aluminium gave up 0.5percent to $2,013 a tonne."Although the technical set-up looks weak, only a definiteclose below $2,013/$2,010 would mean an extended correctiontowards multi-months lows of $2,001/$1,998 and perhaps even$1,977," Stephanie Aymes, head of technical analysis at SocieteGenerale, said in a note.
* LEAD: LME lead slid 2.2 percent to end at $2,002 atonne.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Top Base and Precious Metals Analysis - GFMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Eric OnstadEditing by Mark Potter and David Goodman)