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

SMM data showed that China’s alumina output was 6.20 million mt in September, including 5.99 million mt of metallurgical grade alumina. The daily average output of metallurgical grade alumina was 199,500 mt, up 0.46% on the month and 5.05% on the year.

Domestic zinc output stood at 508900 mt in August 2021, down 1.22% or 6300 mt on the month and 0.04% on the year, according to SMM. Cumulative output in January-August totalled 4.042 million mt, a year-on-year increase of 4.47%. Alloy output at domestic zinc smelters in SMM’s survey sample was 75,500 mt in August, up 80 mt on the month.

The Group for Air Pollution Prevention and Control in Handan City, Hebei, issued a plan on September 1 for limiting production in key industries from September 1 to October 31, which further strengthened the production restrictions.

China’s polysilicon output hit a new high at 43,100 mt in August, up 3.9% on the month and 62% on the year.

SMM data showed that China’s copper cathode output stood at 819,400 mt in August, down 1.3% month on month, but up 1.1% year on year.

Lead prices bottomed out after the settlement as bears sold out positions. Domestic lead concentrate supply remained tight, and the quotations were chaos, but the smelters did not reduce production significantly. The primary lead supply was sufficient.

The State Council of China established a task force to curb unreasonable price increases for commodities in a bid to prevent transmission to consumer prices. As such, SHFE copper prices fell for three consecutive days.

US CPI far exceeded market expectations, triggering market concerns that the US will tighten liquidity ahead of schedule. As a result, the US dollar index stopped falling and rebounded. The decline in the US dollar index is likely to be limited, weighing on copper prices in the short term. Informal financing in China fell short of expectations in April

Social inventory of lead ingots increased by about 20,000 mt to 87,400 mt last week as smelters were willing to deliver goods with the approaching of settlement day. The inventory reach a new high since 2018, bring high pressure to the supply side.