March 18 (Reuters) - Copper prices were mixed on Monday, with the London contract easing while Shanghai prices hit a record high, as supply tightness offset uncertainty in the demand outlook.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dipped 0.3% to $9,043.50 per metric ton by 0409 GMT, while the most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.8% to 72,980 yuan ($10,139.91) a ton.

SHFE copper hit a record high of 73,440 yuan earlier in the session, buoyed by a potential output cut by smelters in top refined-copper producer China.

However, copper inventory in warehouses tracked by SHFE last week climbed to 286,395 tons, the highest since April 2020, as consumption in top-consumer China remained flat.

China reported its industrial output climbed an annual 7% over January and February, beating expectations, while retail sales rose 5.5% from a year earlier.

But real estate remained a worry as property investment in the same period fell 9% - albeit a slower decline from December.

LME aluminium eased 0.2% to $2,271 a ton, nickel fell 0.7% to $17,945, zinc eased 0.1% to $2,559, lead dropped 0.9% to $2,111.50 and tin edged down 0.3% at $28,600.

SHFE aluminium rose 0.3% to 19,270 yuan a ton, tin jumped 1.9% to 228,490 yuan, while nickel fell 0.3% to 140,230 yuan, zinc eased 0.1% to 21,400 yuan and lead lost 0.2% to 16,260 yuan.

China's primary aluminium output in the first two months of 2024 climbed 5.5% to 7.1 million tons from the same year-ago period, official data showed.

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DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

1000 EU Total Trade Balance SA Jan

1000 EU HICP Final MM, YY Feb

n/a UK House Price Rightmove MM, YY March

($1 = 7.1973 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Janane Venkatraman )