Long steel social inventories in Guangzhou declined 8% on week

After the holiday, ferrous metals opened higher, but subsequent trends diverged—steel products and iron ore fluctuated at highs, while coke surged before pulling back. The strong rally during the week was mainly driven by disturbances outside China. During the holiday, the US-Iran standoff escalated with widening negotiation gaps, pushing raw materials to lead the gains in ferrous metals. Combined with capital inflows after the holiday, this provided a clear upward drive for prices. In the latter half of the week, market rumors suggested that Iran and the US had reached a consensus on easing the US naval blockade in exchange for the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and bears increased their positions in coke. Data on the five major steel products were released, showing weakness in both supply and demand, with inventory not accumulating after the holiday. On the spot market side, traders had a strong willingness to hold prices firm, and purchases were made in both futures and spot cargo at low price levels...

Asian copper scrap supply is severely tight due to decline in the volume and quality of US exports due to recovering domestic consumption; depleted inventories from early-year copper price volatility; and China's tax compliance pressures restricting local scrap flows, which intensifies regional competition for imports. Boosted by bullish hoarding, pricing coefficients have defied expected corrections despite surging copper prices. Bare Bright Copper is currently converging around 98.5%, with No. 1 Copper at 97%-97.5%. Notably, No. 2 Copper coefficients have spiked "abnormally" to 95%-96%. This anomaly is primarily driven by high precious metal prices, as scrap batches rich in gold and silver impurities command high premiums, lifting the overall No. 2 Copper pricing benchmark.

[SMM Express] Today, the inventory of secondary aluminum alloy ingots in China's major consumption areas increased by 36 mt from the previous trading day to 30,600 mt, maintaining a slight inventory buildup trend.