BEIJING, March 27 (Reuters) - Most base metals moved higher in...

BEIJING, March 27 (Reuters) - Most base metals moved higher
in early Asian trade on Wednesday, with Shanghai zinc touching a
more than one-year high, as investors focused on tight inventory
levels and the resumption of U.S.-China trade talks in Beijing
this week.
The United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are expected to arrive in
Beijing later on Wednesday for talks starting on Thursday.


FUNDAMENTALS
* SHANGHAI ZINC: The most traded May zinc contract on the
Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as much as 2.1 percent
to 22,450 yuan ($3,344.46) a tonne, its highest since March 7,
2018, and stood at 22,385 yuan a tonne as of 0137 GMT.
* LME ZINC: Three-month zinc in London edged down
0.1 percent to $2,870.50 a tonne after jumping 1.5 percent in
the previous session.
* ZINC STOCKS: Zinc inventories in LME warehouses
MZN-STOCKS fell by another 650 tonnes on Tuesday to 56,425
tonnes, the lowest since February 1991.
* SPREADS: The premium of cash LME zinc over the three-month
contract CMZN0-3 stood at $47 a tonne on Tuesday, up $10.50
from Monday, indicating tighter near-term supply.
* OTHER METALS: Nickel, used to make stainless steel, added
1.9 percent in Shanghai to 101,40 yuan a tonne, while
Shanghai copper nudged up 0.5 percent to 48,490 yuan a
tonne. In London, copper also rose 0.5 percent to $6,361
while aluminium added 0.9 percent to $1,905.
* COPPER: Polish miner KGHM and a union
representing workers at its Sierra Gorda copper mine in Chile
have agreed to extend contract talks, temporarily warding off
the threat of a strike, the union president said.
* ALUNORTE: Norsk Hydro has agreed with Brazil's
federal prosecutor to have a third-party technical assessment
that, if positive, could lead to it resuming full production at
the half-shut Alunorte alumina refinery, the company said on
Tuesday.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares slipped, giving up their small gains made the
previous day, as investors tried to come to terms with a sharp
shift in U.S. bond markets and the implications for the world's
top economy.

DATA/EVENT AHEAD (GMT)
0745 France Consumer Confidence March
0745 France Producer Prices MM Feb
1230 US International Trade Jan
1230 Canada Trade Balance Jan
1500 US Current Account Q4
1600 US Federal Reserve issues annual benchmark
revisions to its U.S industrial production and capacity use
data from 1972 through March 2019

PRICES
BASE METALS PRICES 0135 GMT
Three month LME copper 6357.5
Most active ShFE copper 48470
Three month LME aluminium 1904
Most active ShFE aluminium 13645
Three month LME zinc 2870
Most active ShFE zinc 22370
Three month LME lead 2002.5
Most active ShFE lead 16810
Three month LME nickel 13125
Most active ShFE nickel 101420
Three month LME tin 0
Most active ShFE tin 146580

BASE METALS ARBITRAGE
LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 -980.96
LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1135.91

LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 -559.78
LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 738.61
LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 -3064.39

($1 = 6.7126 Chinese yuan renminbi)