Metals generally rose, with SHFE tin up over 4%. Both LME and SHFE tin hit new highs for the period, while European container shipping fell over 3%. [SMM Midday Review]

SMM April 2 News:

In the metal market:

As of the midday close, domestic base metals showed mixed performance. SHFE tin rose 4.26%, hitting a new high since May 2022 at 299,990 yuan/mt. SHFE lead fell 0.23%, SHFE zinc dropped 0.55%, SHFE copper increased 0.25%, SHFE nickel rose 0.67%, and SHFE aluminum remained flat at 20,485 yuan/mt.

In addition, alumina rose 0.37%, lithium carbonate fell 0.4%, and silicon metal increased 0.2%. The most-traded polysilicon futures contract rose 0.36%.

Ferrous metals series all rose, with iron ore up 0.96%, rebar up 0.57%, HRC up 0.45%, and stainless steel up 0.71%. For coking coal and coke, coking coal rose 0.4%, and coke increased 0.92%.

In overseas metals, as of 11:43, overseas base metals were nearly all up. LME tin rose 1.83%, hitting a new high since May 2022 at $38,395/mt. LME lead, LME copper, LME zinc, and LME nickel all rose within 0.5%, while LME aluminum fell 0.28%.

In precious metals, as of 11:43, COMEX gold rose 0.4%, and COMEX silver increased 0.72%. Domestically, SHFE gold rose 0.5%, and SHFE silver increased 0.1%.

As of the midday close, the most-traded contract for European container shipping fell 3.29%, closing at 2,158 points.

As of 11:43 on April 2, some futures midday market:

》April 2 SMM Metal Spot Prices

Spot and Fundamentals

Lead: In March 2025, the comprehensive profit and loss of secondary lead enterprises were mostly positive, leading to high production enthusiasm. However, due to the high operating rate of secondary lead coinciding with the off-season for raw material supply, the high price of scrap batteries pushed up production costs. After the lead price declined at month-end, corporate profits were somewhat affected. April is the off-season for lead-acid battery consumption, and some battery producers plan to take holidays during the Qingming Festival, weakening lead ingot consumption. The operating rate of secondary lead smelters may also decline. 》Click for details

Macro Front

Domestic:

【NDRC’s Li Chunlin: To Formulate Public Credit Information Authorization Management Measures and Develop the Credit Economy】 NDRC Vice Minister Li Chunlin stated at a State Council Information Office press conference that the NDRC will continue to promote the development and utilization of credit information from three aspects. First, strengthen the foundation of collection and sharing. Enhance the role of the National Credit Information Sharing Platform as the central hub for credit information collection and sharing, unify the collection of credit information across various fields, and conduct assessments of the quality and efficiency of credit information collection and sharing. Second, increase data governance efforts. Focus on strengthening data source governance, improve the credit information standard system, and establish different data subject libraries. Third, orderly promote data openness and circulation. On one hand, rely on the National Credit Information Sharing Platform to share credit information with departments and regions based on demand, and vigorously promote regional public information sharing. On the other hand, formulate public credit information authorization management measures to effectively cultivate the credit market and develop the credit economy.

【PBOC’s Open Market Net Withdrawal of 225.5 Billion Yuan】 The PBOC conducted 229.9 billion yuan in 7-day reverse repo operations today, with the operation rate at 1.50%, unchanged from before. As 455.4 billion yuan in 7-day reverse repos matured today, a net withdrawal of 225.5 billion yuan was achieved.

► April 2 Interbank Foreign Exchange Market RMB Central Parity Rate: 1 US dollar to 7.1793 yuan

US Dollar:

As of 11:43, the US dollar index fell 0.01% to 104.2. The market is preparing for the US announcement of reciprocal tariffs. US Fed officials are concerned about potential job declines, but the threat of tariff-driven inflation limits their ability to take any action. The market is focused on today’s ADP employment report and Friday’s non-farm payroll report, which may provide insights into the Fed’s future interest rate cut path.

Other Currencies:

The UK’s three-month wage growth to February was the lowest in three years. Although wage increases may fluctuate, the decline in wage growth is good news for the Bank of England, which hopes the economic agreement will reverse the impact of the tariffs the US is set to announce tonight. (Huitong Finance)

Data:

Today, the US March ADP employment change, US February durable goods orders monthly revision, US February factory orders monthly rate, Malaysia March manufacturing PMI, and Australia March AIG manufacturing performance index will be released. Additionally, attention should be paid to US President Trump’s plan to implement reciprocal tariffs.

It should be noted that on the eve of the Qingming Festival holiday on April 3, the SGE, SHFE, CZCE, and DCE will have no night session. On April 4, the SGE, Taiwan Stock Exchange, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing Stock Exchanges, and domestic futures exchanges will be closed for one day. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange will be closed for one day due to the Qingming Festival, with northbound and southbound trading suspended.

Crude Oil:

As of 11:43, crude oil futures fluctuated rangebound, with US oil up 0.03% and Brent oil flat at $74.49/barrel. The market is concerned that the US announcement of reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday may exacerbate global trade tensions. US threats to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil and increased restrictions on Iran offset some of the oil price declines.

Additionally, US petroleum fuel inventories reflect mixed supply and demand in the world’s largest oil producer and consumer. On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that US crude oil inventories increased last week, while refined product inventories declined. For the week ending March 28, crude oil inventories rose by 6 million barrels. Gasoline inventories fell by 1.6 million barrels, and distillate inventories dropped by 11,000 barrels. The survey expected crude oil inventories to decrease by about 2.1 million barrels last week, gasoline inventories to fall by about 1.7 million barrels, and distillate inventories to decline by about 1 million barrels. The official US crude oil inventory data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.

The market will also focus on the upcoming OPEC ministerial meeting. (Webstock Inc.)

Spot Market Overview:

► As the Qingming holiday approaches, downstream restocking demand remains low, with spot premiums only flat compared to yesterday [SMM South China Copper Spot]

► Ningbo Zinc: Some traders began pre-sales, with premiums rising [SMM Midday Review]

► March saw a wave of concentrated resumption of secondary lead smelters. What are the production plans for April? [SMM Analysis]

► [SMM Hot Topic] Vietnam Imposes Anti-Dumping Duties on Chinese Galvanized Products Again. What’s the Impact?

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