METALS-Aluminium slips on firmer dollar, but logs biggest weekly gain in a month

By Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson

BEIJING, April 3 (Reuters) - Aluminium fell on Friday, as a stronger U.S. dollar and mounting fears of a potential economic recession due to a prolonged Iran war outweighed supply fears that helped the metal log its biggest weekly gain in a month.

The most-traded aluminium on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SAFcv1 closed daytime trade down 0.78% at 24,660 yuan ($3,585.92) per metric ton. The contract, however, gained 3% week-on-week.

The London Metal Exchange (LME) is closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter holiday.

The dollar =USD strengthened after U.S. President Donald Trump's speech on Iran dampened market expectations for a swift end to the war, reigniting fears of inflation, interest rate hikes, and a potential recession that would hamper demand for industrial metals.

A stronger dollar weighs on commodities denominated in the greenback, making them less affordable for investors using other currencies.

Growing stocks also put prices under pressure with inventories in the Shanghai exchange-monitored warehouses AL-STX-SGH jumping by 3.4% from the week before to 470,108 tons on Friday, the highest since April 17, 2020.

Prices of the light metal used in transport, construction, and packaging surged earlier this week as Iran's attacks on two major Middle East aluminium producers intensified fears of a larger supply loss in the Gulf that accounted for roughly 9% of global supply before the war.

But Chinese exporters of aluminium products are now expected to have a much better year as the Iran war tightens global supply and boosts margins, with some earlier forecasts for flat shipments revised sharply higher.

Among other SHFE metals, copper SCFcv1 was little changed, nickel SNIcv1 nudged down 0.13%, tin SSNcv1 shed 0.77%, and zinc SZNcv1 slipped 0.61%, while lead SPBcv1 added 0.42%.

($1 = 6.8769 Chinese yuan)