SMM Evening Comments (Feb 7)

SHANGHAI, Feb 7 (SMM) – All nonferrous metals futures, except tin, closed lower on Wednesday February 7. SHFE tin edged up 0.79%. SHFE lead led the loss with a 1.5% drop while zinc and copper were down 1%.

Coke led the gains in the ferrous complex by jumping 2%, while iron ore was up almost 1%. Both rebar and hot-rolled coil edged down.

Copper: SHFE copper continued to see downward correction today with pressure from multiple moving averages. We expect the prices to stay weak in the short term.

Aluminium: The five-day moving average gave pressure to SHFE aluminium today and we expect the prices to stay rangebound in the short term. However, low prices have slowed down the commissioning of new capacities and made some producers less enthusiastic about restarts after the winter heating season. Supply pressure is likely to ease while orders from downstream industries may pick up after Chinese New Year. 

Nickel: We continue to see support at the 20-day moving average. The crude oil inventory to be released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) tonight may give cues to market participants.

Zinc: Weak fundamentals remained a risk for SHFE zinc as we see support at the 20-day moving average.

Tin: Tin is supported by expectation of tighter imported ore supply this year and we expect SHFE tin to remain firm in the short term. Pressure, however, is seen at the 152,000 yuan/mt level.

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