LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Aluminium prices in London hit their highest in almost three months on Friday due to supply concerns after a fuel depot blast in major raw material producer Guinea, a weaker dollar and technical buying.
Chinese alumina futures surged to record highs on Friday as the blast at an oil terminal in major bauxite supplier Guinea sparked fears of a shortage of the feed material for alumina, an intermediary product for aluminium.
Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange was up 3.7% at $2,328 per metric ton at 1703 GMT, after touching $2,332, its highest since Oct. 2.
"Guinean depot blasts resulting in it looking more like a war zone raise the potential for bauxite supply disruptions to Chinese smelters with their domestic supplies constrained by winter there," said Alastair Munro, strategist at broker Marex.
The aluminium price gains were also driven by buying by Commodity Trade Advisor (CTA) investment funds, which are largely driven by computer programmes, he added.
The U.S. dollar weakened, making dollar-priced metals more attractive for buyers using other currencies, after data showed that U.S. inflation slowed further in November, cementing market expectations for a U.S. interest rate cut next March.
Meanwhile, some metals shipping routes were at risk as maritime carriers avoided the Red Sea due to vessel attacks, causing disruptions in traffic through the Suez Canal, which handles about 12% of global trade.
"The Middle East is a big shipper of refined aluminium. Shipments are likely to get delayed as the vessels usually sail down from the Suez Canal to the Persian gulf to pick up metals shipments," said a metals trader.
LME copper was down 0.2% to $8,575 per ton, lead rose 0.1% to $2,067 and tin fell 1.6% to $24,750. Zinc climbed 1.9% to $2,596 after hitting highest since Nov. 16 at $2,617.5 on the Red Sea route risks.
Nickel fell 2.0% to $16,555 after LME daily data
