Nov 17 (Reuters) - Nickel prices slumped on Tuesday after the benchmark Chinese futures contract for stainless steel, which uses the metal as a raw material, hit a five-month low as producers faced high input costs and weak demand.

Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange dropped as much as 0.8% to $15,775 a tonne.

The most-traded February nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 2.1% to 117,220 yuan ($17,853.66) a tonne, after five straight sessions of gains.

Copper prices were flat by 0232 GMT in mixed trade, with investors cheering developments around another promising coronavirus vaccine but holding back due to a resurgence in infections worldwide.

FUNDAMENTALS

* China's stainless steel mills face higher costs for essential ingredient ferrochrome, if as expected, South Africa goes ahead with proposals to impose taxes on exports of chrome ore.

* A vote on a new contract for workers at Candelaria copper mine in Chile will be fiercely contested amid ongoing divisions about whether to continue a four-week-long strike.

MARKETS NEWS

* Asian stocks cautiously pushed further into record territory, and oil edged higher after U.S. benchmarks were pepped up by news of another promising coronavirus vaccine.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

1330 US Import and Export Prices Oct

1330 US Retail Sales Oct

1415 US Industrial Production Oct

1500 US Business Inventories Sept

1400 Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey speaks at

The CityUK's National Conference 2020

1600 ECB President Christine Lagarde participates in

an online Q&A during the Bloomberg New Economy Forum

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

($1 = 6.5656 yuan)

(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Rashmi Aich)