[SMM thread monthly carding] supply VS demand, May thread price who is the main ups and downs?

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

SMM China lead ingot inventory across five major markets totalled 99,800 mt as of Friday April 8, up 400 mt from last Friday April 1 and 500 mt from Wednesday April 6.

The total inventory of HRC across social warehouses and steel makers in China stood at 3.58 million mt as of April 7, up 28,300 mt or 0.8% on the week, a decrease of 0.39% on the year.

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%.

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.

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.

Intraday carbonate lithium prices recorded high ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday. The supply side was affected by the shutdown and maintenance of the upstream lithium salt manufacturers and the production reduction of the brine lake.