Shanghai nonferrous metals market closed the day with major losses as the COVID was not yet brought under control.

The physical port stock prices mixed with ups and downs as DCE iron ore futures market vibrated narrowly. Total transactions fell off as some steel mills have finished their weekly purchasing missions early this morning. PBF was closed at 1260-1265yuan/mt in Shandong and Tangshan markets.

According to the latest statistics from the China Gold Association, in 1H 2021, domestic raw material gold production was 152.75 mt, a decrease of 17.32 mt compared with the same period in 2020, down 10.18% year-on-year, among which 122.72 mt were mineral gold from mines and 30.03 mt were by-product gold from non-ferrous products. The supply of imported gold raw materials increased steadily, with 52.19 mt of gold produced from imported raw materials, up 9.33% year-on-year. In general, the country produced a total of 204.94 mt of gold, down 5.90% year-on-year.

Jiawang District of Xuzhou proposed that the industrial level of Jiawang (Jiangzhuang) Economic Development Zone should be improved, focusing on the three leading industries of stainless steel, green building materials and intelligent manufacturing.

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on August 4, 2021

Nickel prices fluctuated higher in July and reached a new high at 148,780 yuan/mt since February this year. Nickel futures closed at 146,900 yuan/mt on July 31, up 8,840 yuan/mt or 6.4% from the end of June.

In the first fiscal quarter ending in June 2021, Indian crude steel production increased by 61% year-on-year to 27.8 million tons, compared with 17.26 million tons in the same period last year.

High-carbon ferrochrome output fell sharply amid power restrictions. The main production areas, including Inner Mongolia, Guangxi and Sichuan all have power curtailment. Meanwhile, Shanxi has recently undergone environmental inspections.

Stainless steel futures prices continued to rise in July. As of July 30, the most traded stainless steel contract closed at 19,995 yuan/mt, an increase of 3,165 yuan/mt or 18.8% from the end of June. However, the prices fell sharply in the first two trading days in August.

China's exports of lanthanum oxide soared 60% year on year to 959 mt in June, up 16% month on month. China's cerium oxide exports surged 62% year on year to 261 mt in June, a drop of 23% from May.