SMM Evening Comments (Feb 23): Shanghai nonferrous metals closed mostly higher, nickel fell 0.81%

SHANGHAI, Feb 23 (SMM) – SHFE nonferrous metals rose for the most part on Tuesday February 23 with economic recovery prospects in focus.

Copper, the best performer, rose 2.83%, zinc advanced 0.05%, lead went up 0.57% and tin gained 0.81%, while aluminium remained unchanged and nickel dropped 0.81%.

The ferrous complex closed mixed. Iron ore decreased 2.94%, rebar slipped 0.7%, while hot-rolled coil rose 0.06%.

Copper: The most-traded SHFE 2104 copper contract finished the day 2.83% higher at 67,950 yuan/mt. Open interest rose 2,195 lots to 153,964 lots. Since the opening of the market after the CNY, SHFE copper has risen by more than 5,500 yuan/mt in only three trading days, and it has risen by more than 10,000 yuan/mt from the low of 56,870 yuan/mt on February 3. Under the continuous unilateral rise in the market, operating rates of copper processing enterprises were far lower than expectations, with few new orders.

Aluminium: The most-liquid SHFE 2104 aluminium contract remained unchanged at 16,690 yuan/mt. Open interest fell 3,431 lots to 209,615 lots. Social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, expanded 121,000 mt from last Thursday February 18 to 1.02 million mt mt as of February 22, and stocks in Wuxi, Nanhai and Gongyi mainly contributed to the increase.

Zinc: The most-active SHFE 2104 zinc contract climbed to an intraday high of 21,955 yuan/mt and closed up 0.05% at 21,850 yuan/mt. Open interest fell 11,753 lots to 42,826 lots. The contract is expected to continue to fluctuate at high under support.

Nickel: The most-traded SHFE 2104 nickel contract ended the day 0.81% lower at 144,970 yuan/mt today. Open interest fell 25,581 lots to 175,610 lots.

Lead: The most-traded SHFE 2104 lead contract slid to a session low of 15,625 yuan/mt and ended the day 0.57% higher at 15,880 yuan/mt. Open interest rose 8,292 lots to 35,485 lots. Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin expanded 1,100 mt from last Thursday February 18 to 44,500 mt as of Monday February 22, an SMM survey showed.

Tin: The most-liquid SHFE 2104 tin contract fell to a session low of 187,060 yuan/mt and finished the day 0.81% higher at 190,660 yuan/mt today. Open interest fell 4,098 lots to 37,215 lots.