Exclusive: SMM Morning Comments (Dec 19)

Published: Dec 19, 2017 09:58

Save

SHANGHAI, Dec 19 (SMM) –

Copper: Most of the price rallies these days happened during night sessions when the European and American investors were more active. This showed that capital is bullish over copper against the backdrop of stronger economy in the western hemisphere. However, we believe Chinese demand remains key and that if it slowed down the market could turn overnight. As we approach the end of the year, downstream demand is not so robust with widening spot discount. We do not see copper price rally back above $7,000/mt. Today we see LME copper trade at $6,900-6,950/mt and SHFE copper at 53,400-53,900 yuan/mt. Spot discount to stand at 140-90 yuan/mt.

Aluminium: We see LME aluminium prices to go up further today at $2,060-2,090/mt whereas the SHFE contract is likely to be rangebound at around the 14,500 yuan/mt level. Spot discount remained 230-190 yuan/mt.

Zinc: Lower inventory continued to support LME zinc prices but investors became cautious as the Christmas holiday approaches. We expect to see LME zinc trade at $3,170-3,220/mt today and SHFE at 25,200-25,650 yuan/mt. Liquidity is thin in the spot market.

Nickel: We expect to see the main contract of SHFE nickel to trade at 94,200-96,000 yuan/mt while the spot price at 93,700-95,500 yuan/mt. China’s domestic nickel plate inventory remained low.

Tin: LME tin continued its rebound but we see upper resistance at $19,400/mt. SHFE tin is also likely to keep its upward movement with shorts covering. We expect SHFE tin to trade at 137,000-139,000 yuan/mt today and 137,500-138,500 yuan/mt in the physical market.

Lead: SHFE lead is trading above all moving averages and it’s likely to stay rangebound in the near term.

For news cooperation, please contact us by email: gaotian@smm.cn or service.en@smm.cn.

copper aluminium lead zinc tin nickel

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or to learn more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

48 mins ago

INE to Expand Tradable Options for Qualified Foreign Investors, Adding TSR 20 Rubber and Copper Contracts

According to an announcement by the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, with the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, effective April 22, 2026 (from the night continuous trading session on April 21), the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (hereinafter referred to as INE) will further expand the range of tradable products available to Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors and RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (collectively, Qualified Foreign Investors), with the newly added commodity options contracts open for trading as follows: TSR 20 rubber and international copper options contracts.

48 mins ago

1 hour ago

Copper Inventories in Major Regions of China Continued Destocking During the Week [SMM Weekly Data]

1 hour ago

SMM Copper Wire and Cable Operating Rate Rises Slightly to 70.77%, Market Performance Mediocre

[SMM Copper Wire and Cable Operating Rate] The operating rate of SMM copper wire and cable enterprises was 70.77% this week, up 0.24 percentage points MoM. Overall operating performance was stable, while market performance was relatively mediocre. During the week, the pullback in copper prices suppressed the release of new orders, but enterprises had ample orders on hand and pending delivery, supporting basically stable production. New orders across downstream segments were generally weak, with demand in the home decoration sector particularly mediocre due to rising plastic raw material prices.

1 hour ago