Copper Prices to Have Support

The market worried that power rationing in Yunnan might cast some impact on zinc smelters.

Silicon metal prices fell slightly this week. As of April 13, the prices of above-standard #553 silicon metal in east China lost 250 yuan/mt from a week earlier to 15,500-15,700 yuan/mt

LME copper prices closed at $8,827/mt overnight, a decline of 1.13%. Trading volume was 19,000 lots and open interest stood at 246,000 lots. The most active SHFE 2304 copper contract finished at 68,570 yuan/mt overnight, up 0.44%.

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on February 13, 2023

DCE iron ore futures market falling trends,and start to rebounded in the afternoon. the main contract closed 853.5 by 0.89%. some traders were negative to sell, Some steel mills tended to be wait-and-see, and purchasing enthusiasm is not high.

There will not be solid macro data this week. The one-year inflation expectations in the United States and the annualised CPI in China in January are due this week. The public speeches of Federal Reserve Chairman Powell and voting commission after the interest rate meeting will be the focus of markets.

On the evening of January 31, LB Group announced that from February 1, 2023, all specifications of titanium dioxide of the company (including sulphuric acid process titanium dioxide, titanium dioxide by chlorination method) would be raised by 1,000 yuan/mt for various domestic customers and $150/mt for international customers from the original prices.

Quotes for spot pure nickel were made against the SHFE 2303 nickel contract today.

IMF president said that the consecutive downgrades of global economic growth expectations are over, and global economic growth will bottom out by the end of 2023.

Chinese authorities cautioned iron ore trading companies and futures companies against fabricating price hike information and price inflating in a bid to rein in the iron ore prices. DCE iron ore prices thus stabllise.