Oct 14 (Reuters) - Copper in London advanced on Wednesday, as the threat of mine supply disruptions in Chile, a top producer of the industrial metal, and stronger consumption from leading consumer China supported prices.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.3% to $6,713.50 a tonne by 0346 GMT, while the most-traded November copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.4% to 51,330 yuan ($7,615.05) a tonne.
Though the Escondida mine in Chile could continue to operate even if supervisors walked off the job, a strike could lead to production bottlenecks or slowdowns.
Canada's Lundin Mining will talk with the Mina union at its Candelaria copper deposit to try to end a strike, while supervisors at Escondida mine and mine operator BHP will extend negotiations in an attempt to stave off a strike at the world's largest copper deposit.
"Physical demand picked up a little month-on-month, but is still lower year-on-year. (October is) supposed to be strong, but it's not that strong (yet)," said CRU copper analyst He Tianyu, adding that demand might gather pace again in two weeks.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME aluminium fell 0.2% to $1,855 a tonne and lead declined 0.3% to $1,796 a tonne while in Shanghai, aluminium rose 0.2% to 14,640 yuan a tonne and zinc dropped 1% to 19,165 yuan a tonne.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian equities slipped as risk appetite was soured by a halt in COVID-19 vaccine trials and an impasse in talks on a U.S. fiscal aid package, while the greenback held on to gains as demand firmed for safe-harbour assets.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0630 India WPI Inflation YY Sept
PRICES
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
ARBS
($1 = 6.7406 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)