Post CNY update on nickel

This is a roundup of post-CNY update on lead. 

This is a roundup of post-CNY update on zinc. 

The Covid-19 situation in China has shown signs of regional recurrence since the fourth quarter of 2020. End-user rigid demand has been interrupted by the pandemic since December and began to fall. As of January 2021, some construction workers were worried about the continued worsening of the pandemic and decide to go home early for CNY. During the last 10 days of January, the daily trading volume of long steel dropped to below 100,000 mt.

Iron ore inventories across 35 ports tracked by SMM totalled 119.85 million mt as of Tuesday February 23, an increase of 1.96 million mt from the previous week. The increase was contributed by some ports in Shandong, Tangshan and Yangtze River region. Daily average deliveries declined 352,000 mt to 2.62 million mt as Tangshan intensified heavy pollution control measures during CNY. The daily average deliveries from ports are expected to gradually pick up as some steel mills plan to increase inventory after the holiday.

Stainless steel consumption has improved significantly month-on-month in July, but remained weaker than the same period last year. Inventories extended declines, suggesting robust sales in major markets, but remained higher compared to July 2019, according to the recent SMM survey.

Those metals cruised higher across the board in overnight trading. Zinc surged 1.7%, aluminium climbed 1.4%, lead advanced 0.7%, copper gained 0.3% and tin edged up 0.2%, while nickel failed to fully recover from opening losses and was down 0.3%.

LME nonferrous metals rose across the board on Monday morning, recovering from pullbacks on Friday caused by a flare-up in US-China tensions, as data showed an acceleration in China’s industrial profits growth in June.

SHFE nonferrous metals, except for nickel and tin, fell in early trade on Friday morning, as investors reacted to worsening US-China tensions and a sell-off in US markets overnight.

SHFE nonferrous metals fell across the board for the second consecutive day on Thursday July 16, as concerns over rising coronavirus cases and US-China tensions tempered optimism over a coronavirus vaccine.

SHFE nonferrous metals opened lower across the board on Thursday July 16, extending losses from last night, as investors risk aversion grew amid uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic and US-China tensions.