(Adds comment on nickel; updates prices)
BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Shanghai nickel, lead and zinc
posted strong gains on Thursday after hitting multi-month highs
overnight, as demand in top consumer China improved and
investors worried about disruption at overseas suppliers.
Nickel closed up 2.6% in Shanghai after rising 5% in night
trading to its highest since Nov. 19, after key miner the
Philippines reimposed a lockdown in parts of the country and
braced for the onset of its rainy season. Dante Bravo, president of the Philippine Nickel Industry
Association and chief executive at the country's No. 2 nickel
ore producer Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc FNI.PS , told
Reuters on Thursday that the key nickel mining region of Caraga
was not under a strict lockdown.
The main factor behind the price spike was heavy rains in
the Philippines, said a Chinese buyer of nickel ore, adding that
this would disrupt shipments. The wet season usually runs from
the third quarter to the first quarter of the following year.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NICKEL: The most-traded October nickel contract on the
Shanghai Futures Exchange SNIcv1 closed at 114,450 yuan
($16,483.04) a tonne, having touched 117,220 yuan overnight.
London Metal Exchange nickel CMNI3 inched down 0.2% to $14,395
by 0705 GMT, having hit its highest since November on Wednesday.
* ZINC/LEAD: Supply of zinc has been impacted by mining
curbs in Peru. It closed up 2.5% in Shanghai SZNcv1 after
notching its highest since July 1, 2019 overnight. Sister metal
lead SPBcv1 ended up 4% at its highest since Oct. 9.
* COPPER: LME copper CMCU3 shed 0.4% to $6,471.50 a tonne,
while ShFE copper SCFcv1 ended flat on 51,400 yuan a tonne.
* COPPER: Chile's largest copper mines boosted output in
June even as the coronavirus outbreak hit. * STOCKS: LME copper stocks MCUSTX-TOTAL at 122,450 tonnes
are at their lowest since mid-January and down more than 50%
since May.
($1 = 6.9435 Chinese yuan)