March 25 (Reuters) - Nickel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange surged by as much as its 20% trading limit on Friday on persistent worries about supply, putting it on track for its biggest weekly gain on the Chinese bourse since the 2015 launch of a nickel contract there.
Shanghai's benchmark nickel contract climbed to as high as 269,940 yuan ($42,445.40) a tonne, advancing for a third straight session and mirroring the metal's steep rise this week on the London Metal Exchange.
LME nickel prices soared to record highs above $100,000 a tonne on March 8, after which trading was suspended for six sessions, amid large purchases by China's Tsingshan Holding Group to reduce its short positions in the metal used to make stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries.
Concerns over nickel supply in the wake of the Ukraine invasion by Russia, which accounts for about 10% of the world's nickel supply, and possible short-covering continued to underpin the metal, analysts said.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.3% at $10,383 a tonne by 0224 GMT, while the most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai exchange slipped 0.1% to 73,570 yuan a tonne.
* Russia might look to its giant neighbour to replace Australian alumina supplies cut off by sanctions, but Chinese aluminium smelters need all the feedstock they can get and may be worried about secondary sanctions from the West, industry analysts say.
* MMG Ltd said on Thursday it has secured approval from Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines to expand its Las Bambas copper mine despite ongoing outrage from local indigenous communities.
* The Serbian arm of China's Zijin Mining plans to stop production at its copper smelter for three months to carry out a planned work.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares were headed for a second successive weekly gain on Friday, though trading was choppy amid hawkish U.S. monetary policy, shifts in Chinese economic policy, and ongoing ructions in commodity markets due to the war in Ukraine.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0700 UK Retail Sales YY, MM Feb
0700 UK Retail Sales Ex-Fuel MM Feb
0900 Germany Ifo Expectations New March
0900 Germany Ifo Curr Conditions New March
0900 Germany Ifo Business Climate New March
1400 US U Mich Sentiment Final March
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 = 6.3597 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)