March 22 (Reuters) - London aluminium prices edged lower on Tuesday, although jitters over supply disruptions kept prices near a two-week high touched in the previous session as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine showed no sign of easing.
Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.1% at $3,517 a tonne, as of 0716 GMT, not far from a near two-week high scaled on Monday.
The most-traded May aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 0.3% at 22,950 yuan ($3,608.55) a tonne.
The market is also closely watching the coronavirus situation in China, where cases are rising.
"The world is trying to adapt and learn how to accept COVID as part of daily life, and a great example of that is Xi Jinping's request to tackle COVID with minimal disruption to the economy and society in general," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index.
"The war in Ukraine remains a key pillar of support for metals and has arguably contributed to the bulk of volatility in recent weeks."
China's financial hub Shanghai on Tuesday reported a fifth consecutive daily record for locally transmitted COVID-19 asymptomatic cases.
Exacerbating aluminium supply concerns was Australia's export ban of alumina and aluminium ores to Russia as part of its sanctions against Moscow, while Germany-based TRIMET is also due to cut aluminium production at the Essen facility by 50% due to higher energy prices.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that it would not be possible to negotiate an end to the war without meeting Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, while the conflict continued for a fourth week.
"World ex-China output is already struggling, and further supply losses are raising prospects for a wider deficit," analysts at ANZ said in a note.
Stocks of aluminium in LME-registered warehouses
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME copper fell 0.3% to $10,260.50 a tonne, lead rose 0.3% to $2,265.50, and zinc was almost 1% lower at $3,903.50.
* The most-traded August nickel contract in Shanghai fell 3% to 196,200 yuan a tonne.
* The global nickel market saw a surplus of 6,000 tonnes in January compared with a deficit of 5,300 tonnes in the same period last year, data from the International Nickel Study Group showed on Monday.
* Global primary aluminium output fell to 5.114 million tonnes in February from 5.236 million in the same month in 2021, data from the International Aluminium Institute showed.
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RICES
Three month LME copper
Most active ShFE copper
Three month LME aluminium
Most active ShFE aluminium
Three month LME zinc
Most active ShFE zinc
Three month LME lead
Most active ShFE lead
Three month LME nickel
Most active ShFE nickel
Three month LME tin
Most active ShFE tin
($1 = 6.3599 yuan) (Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Amy Caren Daniel)