[11 October SMM Zinc data]

China produced 848,500 mt of copper cathode in March, up 8.42% MoM and down 5.79% YoY, according to SMM statistics.

China’s lithium carbonate output was 18,609 mt in February, a month-on-month decrease of 2% but a year-on-year increase of 51%.

Li Xinchuang, secretary of the party committee of the Metallurgical Industry Planning Research Institute and vice president of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, said that from the recent response from industry participants, the crude steel production regulation policy is likely to continue in 2022.

In terms of SHFE zinc prices, the market should be concerned about zinc concentrate, which is still short of supply.

According to SMM survey, the operating rates of magnesium powder plants were suppressed under the impact of Beijing Winter Olympics. Some plants in Tianjin and Shanxi cut the production, and the overall output declined by 30%.

SMM data showed that the aluminium ingot social inventory in China totalled 1.04 million mt as of February 17, 2022, up 90,000 mt from last Thursday February 10.

The nickel prices rose steadily last week. Before the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday, the continuous falling nickel inventory in China and overseas pushed up the nickel prices sharply.

The social inventory of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin increased 7,600 mt from last Friday January 28 and rose 3,100 mt from Monday February 7 to 93,100 mt as of February 11.

The Inventories of rebar across Chinese steelmakers and social warehouses stood at 10.43 million mt as of February 10, up 3.74 million mt or 55.9% from pre-CNY holiday level. Stocks are down 3.59 million mt or 25.6% from a year earlier.

On the supply side, after three consecutive rounds of coke price hikes in January, the profits of coking enterprises have increased significantly, heightening the enthusiasm for production.