Operating rates across licensed smelters of secondary lead in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Guizhou stood at 61.11% this week, down 1.62% from the previous week, an SMM survey showed.

Shanghai base metals mostly cruised higher on Friday morning amid dovish comments from European Central Bank. Meanwhile, their counterparts on the LME traded mixed.

SHFE nonferrous metals closed mixed on Monday July 19 as markets digested the latest OPEC + announcement regarding oil production, and continued to brood on inflation and rising Covid-19 cases.

NDRC will continue to follow the deployment of the executive meeting of the State Council, work with relevant departments to strengthen the monitoring and forecast of commodity prices, organise subsequent release of copper, aluminium, zinc and other national reserves, and pay close attention to abnormal market price fluctuations.

Operating rates across major aluminium processors decreased 1.8 percentage points from a week ago to 70.7% last week. The main reason is that the power load in Henan is too high, prompting the province to impose staggered power use, affecting production at local aluminium plate, strip, foil and wire & cable producers.

Operating rates across lead-acid battery producers in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hebei provinces gained 0.4 percentage point from July 9 to 69.41% as of Friday July 16.

SHFE nonferrous metals all went up today as China’s power curtailment expanded to many regions, and US expectation of interest rate hikes intensified.

SMM data showed that the stocks fell 4,300 mt from the prior week to 435,500 mt as of Friday July 16.

Shanghai base metals traded mixed on Thursday morning as traders reacted to hotter-than-expected US and UK inflation figures and comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Meanwhile, their counterparts on the LME fell for the most part.

Shanghai base metals advanced across the board on Monday morning as investors continued to monitor the Covid situation regionally. Meanwhile, their counterparts on the LME also rose for the most part.