SMM Evening Comments (Mar 16): Shanghai nonferrous metals fell for the most part, tin declined 1.22%

Published: Mar 16, 2021 17:40

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SHFE nonferrous metals were mostly lower on Tuesday March 16. Copper fell 1.14%, zinc shed 0.9%, nickel weakened 0.12%, lead declined 0.27% and tin dropped 1.22%, while aluminium firmed 0.49%.

SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) – SHFE nonferrous metals were mostly lower on Tuesday March 16. Copper fell 1.14%, zinc shed 0.9%, nickel weakened 0.12%, lead declined 0.27% and tin dropped 1.22%, while aluminium firmed 0.49%.

SMM data showed that a total of 95 vessels carrying 13.22 million mt of iron ore arrived at major Chinese ports during March 7-13, SMM estimates. This was up 860,000 mt from the previous week, and 1.21 million mt from the same period last year.

Copper: The most-traded SHFE 2105 copper contract finished the day 1.14% lower at 66,740 yuan/mt, with open interest decreasing 3,227 lots to 154,000 lots.

Aluminium: The most-liquid SHFE 2105 aluminium contract gained 0.49% to end the day at 17,575 yuan/mt, with open interest rising 17,134 lots to 254,000 lots.

Zinc: The most-traded SHFE 2104 zinc contract shed 0.9% to close the day at 21,585 yuan/mt, with open interest losing 3,037 lots to 65,291 lots. High zinc prices depressed downstream consumption.

Nickel: The most-active SHFE 2104 nickel contract edged down 0.12% to finish the day at 120,450 yuan/mt, with open interest increasing 4,044 lots to 129,000 lots.

Lead: The most-active SHFE 2104 lead contract ended the day 0.27% lower at 14,815 yuan/mt, ending a three-day winning streak, with open interest losing 875 lots to 36,933 lots. In the spot market, a few traders and downstream users who were bullish on lead prices restocked on demand, but the wait-and-see sentiment is still pervading the market.

Tin: The most-traded SHFE 2105 tin contract fell 1.22% to close the day at 174,690 yuan/mt, with open interest losing 1,125 lots to 33,440 lots. Domestic high inventories of tin ingots weighed on its prices. The contract is expected to move between 170,000-180,000 yuan/mt today.

Copper Aluminium Lead Tin Nickel Zinc

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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