Copper up

Melbourne/Beijing : London copper was nearly flat at $6,906.50 a tonne and its Shanghai counterpart rose 1.1 percent to 50,950 yuan.

Shanghai aluminium futures hit their strongest in almost three months on Tuesday amid supply worries after Rio Tinto declared force majeure on some customer contracts after the United States imposed sanctions on the firm´s Russian partner Rusal.

The gains in Chinese futures followed another rally in London prices to their highest since 2011 on Monday.

London aluminium futures, which have topped $2,400 a tonne, have surged 19 percent this month.

"We think an aluminium price of around $2,250/tonne is fair, as it takes into account the impact of Rusal´s displaced aluminium," said Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar in a note. Rusal accounts for 6-7 percent of global aluminium supply.