The China Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Bureau, a unit of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, granted import allowances for 10,423 mt of high-grade copper scrap to 14 companies in the latest release, bringing the cumulative quotas for this year to 540,184 mt.

Jiangsu Tafel New Energy Technology on May 17 kicked off construction of its phase II and III capacity of a power battery project, which is located at the Jiangning Development Zone, Nanjing.  

Prices of most light and medium-to-heavy rare earth oxides increased last week as sellers firmed up offers on active enquiries by downstream consumers. SMM expects the improvement in enquiries to continue to support prices of medium-to-heavy rare earth oxides this week, while prices of light rare earth, such as praseodymium-neodymium oxide, will likely pull back as the strength of demand may unable to sustain a price rally. 

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. 

Chinese silicon plants may face difficulties to resume production as scheduled in the wet season starting from June as the global widespread COVID-19 has disrupted the supply chain and led to a shortage of raw material wood charcoal. SMM learned that most silicon plants have conducted maintenance and tried to secure feedstock for the preparation of resumption.

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.

Social inventories of stainless steel in China showed signed of declines at end-March, after the stocks hit the highest level on record last month. However, downstream demand has yet to recover sufficiently to support a sustained slide in the inventories, which may threaten lingering inventory pressure in April that will keep stainless steel prices under pressure. 

The impact from the coronavirus pandemic on China’s aluminium exports is mounting as greater part of the world comes under lockdown to stop the spread of the virus. On Wednesday, Vietnam, a major buyer of Chinese aluminium, entered into a 15-day period of nationwide isolation. Residents are required to stay at home and can only go outside for “essential needs,” such as food, medicines, urgent medical services or to go to work at companies permitted by the government to remain open.

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.

Trades in the spot copper market in Shanghai were active with spot premiums rising on the morning of March 31 as upbeat data on China’s manufacturing activities improved market sentiment and led to...