Operations at Chinese manufacturers of flat-rolled copper products slowed in April, as backlogged orders had been fulfilled and as the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions dealt a blow to the demand that have already been weak.

Guangxi Tianyuan New Energy Material has put its 10,000 mt/year lithium carbonate production line into operation, SMM learned.

Southwest China’s Sichuan province lowered electricity tariffs to the normal season mode on Saturday. There were barely any silicon producers in the region stepping up production, SMM research found, due to weak silicon prices and limited power supply caused by continued drought.

SHFE nonferrous metals rose across the board on Friday, as market sentiment was rallied after China’s Ministry of Finance pledged to make an early allocation of the special-purpose bond quotas for transportation infrastructure construction. 

Crude oil prices jumped on Thursday, following their biggest-ever quarterly losses, as US President Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a deal soon to end their oil price war.

Shanghai base metals opened mostly higher on Wednesday morning, as Beijing said that it will roll out a set of fiscal and financial policies to expand domestic demand, assist businesses reopening, sustain employment, and help all types of businesses to weather this difficult time.

JFE, Japan’s second biggest steelmaker, said on Friday that it will close a blast furnace and other facilities at the East Japan Works (Keihin) to optimise its domestic operations. Those facilities are expected to be shut down by FY2023 (ending March 2024), bringing the company’s operating blast furnaces in Japan to seven and reducing its crude steel capacity by around 4 million mt or 13%.

SHFE copper and nickel declined and other base metals rose marginally on Thursday following two days of rallies. Remerged concerns about a coronavirus-driven global recession saw copper give up gains, despite the passage of a $2 trillion stimulus package in the US aimed at offsetting the economic fallout from the coronavirus.

While a handful of exploration companies in Africa are still looking to get a foot in the door, the tin (Sn) processing plant at Alphamin Resources’ (TSXV:AFM) (JSE: APH) Bisie mine is close to running at full tilt.

SHFE nonferrous metals, except for nickel, rose on Tuesday and regained losses from the previous day, as some of the virus-related fears were relieved by the US Federal Reserve’s open-ended asset purchase program. SHFE tin led the rebound with a rise of 5.98%. Copper advanced 4.29%, aluminium added 0.53%, lead gained 2.32%, zinc climbed 2.23%, while nickel shed 1.01%.