China to Forbid "Category 7" Scrap Metal Imports in Late 2018

This week, ferrous metals retreated after a rapid rise. At the beginning of the week, the market said that Asia had shifted to coal-fired power generation due to a natural gas supply deficit, while Indonesia would increase coal production and impose export taxes. The rise in international coal prices was transmitted to China, and coking coal and coke led the gains in ferrous metals; mid-week, the Middle East situation remained volatile, and the U.S. and Iran held differing attitudes toward war, with ferrous metals consolidating at high levels; the pullback in the second half of the week was also mainly due to the weakening of the cost-side logic, as market rumors said long-term iron ore contract negotiations had been completed, expectations for tightening iron ore supply declined, and raw materials turned into the main driver of the pullback. In the spot market, speculative trading and end-user purchase sentiment improved in the first half of the week, while rigid demand remained dominant in the second half, and the spot-futures price spread widened somewhat......

[SMM Daily Review of Aluminum Alloy] Today, the ADC12 market edged up slightly, driven by the rebound in aluminum prices. Some enterprises raised their quotations by 100–200 yuan/mt, while others chose to hold prices temporarily steady and wait due to the pace of yesterday’s price adjustments or weak demand. In terms of transactions, downstream procurement still mainly met rigid demand, the market trading atmosphere showed no obvious improvement, and demand provided insufficient momentum.

[SMM Tin Midday Commentary: Technical Recovery Coupled with Expectations of a Temporary Easing in Geopolitical Tensions Drives a Rebound in Tin Prices]