Post CNY update on nickel

Shanghai base metals traded mixed after opening on Thursday morning, as Fed failed to set a timeline for tapering asset purchase, and COVID-19 pandemic made a comeback. Meanwhile, their counterparts on LME mostly went up.

Shanghai base metals were mostly lower on Tuesday morning as investors awaited the release of China's trade data for June. Meanwhile, their counterparts on the LME also fell for the most part.

This is a roundup of China's metals weekly inventory as of July 9.

This is a roundup of post-CNY update on lead. 

This is a roundup of post-CNY update on zinc. 

The Covid-19 situation in China has shown signs of regional recurrence since the fourth quarter of 2020. End-user rigid demand has been interrupted by the pandemic since December and began to fall. As of January 2021, some construction workers were worried about the continued worsening of the pandemic and decide to go home early for CNY. During the last 10 days of January, the daily trading volume of long steel dropped to below 100,000 mt.

Iron ore inventories across 35 ports tracked by SMM totalled 119.85 million mt as of Tuesday February 23, an increase of 1.96 million mt from the previous week. The increase was contributed by some ports in Shandong, Tangshan and Yangtze River region. Daily average deliveries declined 352,000 mt to 2.62 million mt as Tangshan intensified heavy pollution control measures during CNY. The daily average deliveries from ports are expected to gradually pick up as some steel mills plan to increase inventory after the holiday.

Inventories of refined nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas fell this week, as shipments under bill of lading were delayed due to COVID-19 related lockdowns while there were flows from bonded areas to domestic markets.  SMM data showed that inventories of pure nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas stood at 17,900 mt as of Friday April 17, down from 18,600 mt a week earlier.

SHFE nonferrous metals, except for lead, closed higher on US-China trade thaw

SHFE nonferrous metals, except for zinc, closed higher