Albemarle's lithium carbonate bidding ends. 

LME zinc prices closed down $29.5/mt or 1.19% at $2,450/mt yesterday evening. The trading volume increased to 7,690 lots, and open interest increased 407 lots to 206,000 lots.  LME zinc inventory shed by 2750 mt to 91575 mt. Overnight, the US CPI data recorded 3.2%, which was lower than the expected 3.3%.

Crude oil rose slightly today. As of 15:11 CST, WTI oil and Brent oil rose 0.13% and 0.28% respectively. The U.S. Department of Energy’s additional Strategic Petroleum Reserve Purchase supported oil prices.

LME copper closed at $8,231.5/mt last evening, a rise of 1.5%.Trading volume was 20,000 lots and open interest stood at 252,000 lots. The most active SHFE 2307 copper contract finished at 65,760 yuan/mt overnight, up 0.75%. Trading volume was 46,000 lots and open interest stood at 185,000 lots.

Crude oil fell slightly today. As of 15:02 CST, WTI oil and Brent oil fell 0.26% and 0.27% respectively. The U.S. dollar rose 0.37% as of 15:03.

LME and SHFE base metals closed mostly with losses last night.

LME copper prices closed at $7,891/mt overnight, a decline of 2.35%. Trading volume was 27,000 lots and open interest stood at 254,000 lots. The most active SHFE 2307 copper contract finished at 62,990 yuan/mt, down 1.5%. Trading volume was 89,000 lots and open interest stood at 215,000 lots.

China imported 12,700 mt of refined zinc in March, up 170.37% on the month but down 40.09% on the year. The imports totalled 19,300 mt in the first three months of 2023, down 53.75% YoY, while total exports of refined zinc during the same period stood at 2,400 mt. This pointed to net imports of 16,900 mt.

In early May, the US Fed hiked the rate by 25 basis points as expected to 5%-5.25%, the highest since August 2007.

Stainless steel prices remained low last week, with spot #304 dipping about 150 yuan/mt WoW.

Nickel prices moved with some downward potential yesterday because of the poor downstream demand and trades amid economic recession.