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Most Metals Fall, Polysilicon Drops Over 3%; European Shipping, Coking Coal, Alumina, Silicon Metal Lead Declines [SMM Midday Review]

iconApr 29, 2025 12:02
Source:SMM

SMM April 29 News:

Metal Market:

As of the midday close, domestic base metals generally declined, with SHFE copper and SHFE zinc posting slight gains. SHFE tin fell 0.4%, and SHFE nickel dropped 0.18%. SHFE aluminum declined 0.05%, and SHFE lead fell 0.21%.

In addition, alumina dropped 2.31%. Lithium carbonate fell 1.45%, silicon metal declined 2.22%, and polysilicon dropped 3.07%.

The ferrous metals series mostly fell, with iron ore posting a slight gain. Rebar fell 1.24%, HRC dropped 1.33%, and stainless steel rose 0.24%. For coking coal and coke: coking coal fell 2.62%, and coke dropped 1.4%.

In the overseas metal market, as of 11:46 a.m., overseas base metals generally rose. LME zinc rose 0.2%, and LME nickel fell 0.29%. LME lead rose 0.08%, LME copper posted a slight gain, LME aluminum dropped 0.12%, and LME zinc rose 0.49%.

In precious metals, as of 11:46 a.m., COMEX gold fell 0.67%, and COMEX silver dropped 0.06%. Domestically, SHFE gold rose 0.37%, and SHFE silver gained 0.07%.

As of the midday close, the most-traded contract for the European container shipping index fell 8.74%, closing at 1,263 points.

As of 11:46 a.m. on April 29, some midday futures market movements:

》SMM Metal Spot Prices on April 29

Spot and Fundamentals

Zinc: Today, the mainstream transaction prices for 0# zinc were concentrated in the range of 22,925-23,030 yuan/mt. Shuangyan zinc was traded at 23,125-23,190 yuan/mt, and 1# zinc was mainly traded at 22,855-22,960 yuan/mt. In the morning session, the market offered premiums of 0-10 yuan/mt against the average price, with fewer quotes against the futures price... 》Click for details

Macro Front

Domestic:

[NDRC Allocates Second Batch of 81 Billion Yuan in Ultra-Long-Term Special Treasury Bonds This Year to Continue Strong Support for Consumer Goods Trade-In Policy] According to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the market demand for consumer goods trade-ins across the country has been robust since the beginning of this year, with the utilization rate of the first batch of subsidy funds reaching a relatively high level in most regions. Recently, the NDRC has issued a notice, in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance, to promptly allocate an additional second batch of 81 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special Treasury bonds to local governments this year, continuing strong support for the consumer goods trade-in policy. Next, the NDRC will fully leverage the role of the "program of large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins" inter-ministerial coordination mechanism, strengthen overall planning and progress tracking, urge local governments and relevant departments to expedite the review and disbursement of allocated funds, effectively alleviate the pressure on enterprises for advance payments, ensure that genuine benefits directly reach consumers, and promote the consumer goods trade-in policy to achieve greater results.

[Three Ministries Launch Market Access Barrier Clearance and Rectification Campaign to Promote the Construction of a Unified National Market] The National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Commerce, and State Administration for Market Regulation have issued a notice on launching a market access barrier clearance and rectification campaign to promote the construction of a unified national market. The focus of this campaign is on various regulatory documents that violate market access requirements, established and implemented in the form of local regulations, rules, administrative normative documents, and other policy documents, as well as various practices where governments at all levels have illegally set up market access barriers. For key and difficult issues with complex causes, strong feedback from business entities, high social attention, significant rectification difficulties, or long-standing unresolved problems, the NDRC will coordinate with relevant departments for supervision. For those who fail to complete problem verification and rectification within the specified timeframe, or refuse to rectify, fail to rectify properly, or conceal or misreport information, they will be subject to notification and interviews, with key supervision. In serious cases, reports will be made to the State Council in accordance with procedures. After reviewing and screening the problem clues reported by local governments, the NDRC will select typical cases for public notification and simultaneously include them in the scope of the national urban credit monitoring.

[First-Tier Cities Launch Policy of Offering School Places with Home Purchases; Guangzhou's Nansha District Takes the Lead] Following the announcement on January 10 this year of offering school places with home purchases, the Nansha District of Guangzhou issued a notice on April 28, officially fulfilling this commitment. This makes Nansha the first region among current first-tier cities to implement this policy. The notice clearly states that starting from January 10, 2025, if the parents or other legal guardians of school-age children or juveniles purchase newly built commercial housing in the Nansha District and own 100% of the property or jointly own 100% of the property with their children; or if the parents or other legal guardians and their children have no property in this city, but the grandparents of the school-age children or juveniles purchase newly built commercial housing in the Nansha District starting from January 10, 2025, and the grandparents own 100% of the property, with the children living with their grandparents in the same household for more than three years, they can apply for enrollment in public schools at the starting grade of compulsory education in the Nansha District. 》Click for details

The PBOC conducted 340.5 billion yuan in 7-day reverse repo operations today, with an operating interest rate of 1.5%. As 220.5 billion yuan in 7-day reverse repos matured today, a net injection of 120 billion yuan was achieved.

The central parity rate of the RMB against the US dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market on April 29 was 7.2029 yuan per US dollar.

US Dollar:

As of 11:46 a.m., the US dollar index rose 0.24%, closing at 99.17. Analysts said the market is awaiting US economic data to be released this week, including the non-farm payrolls data due on Friday, which are expected to provide clues for investors to gauge the future direction of the US Fed's interest rates. Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, outlined a timetable in a report to clients, showing when the impact of the tariffs announced by President Trump might hit the US economy. The report indicates that the economic impact of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration will soon become apparent to ordinary Americans and could lead to an economic recession this summer.

Other Currencies:

The USD/JPY was on the defensive in the Asian morning session, with the market sentiment of "selling the US" continuing unabated. Dragged down by uncertainties surrounding tariffs and the US economic outlook, mixed tariff trade signals have spurred the market to turn to the safe-haven yen. Reuters survey: The risk of a global economic recession this year has surged due to the impact of US tariffs. US employment and GDP data, as well as earnings reports from major corporations, are set to be released soon. The US and Japan will also conduct trade negotiations. The Bank of Japan will announce its interest rate decision on Thursday and is expected to maintain stable interest rates while issuing warnings about tariff risks. (Huitong Finance)

Data:

Today, the US March preliminary wholesale inventories monthly rate, the US April Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, the US March JOLTs job openings, the Eurozone March seasonally adjusted money supply M3 annual rate, the Eurozone April Economic Sentiment Indicator, the Eurozone April Industrial Sentiment Indicator, the Eurozone April final Consumer Confidence Indicator, and the Germany May Gfk Consumer Confidence Indicator will be released. In addition, the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan will be closed on April 29 for Showa Day.

Crude Oil:

As of 11:46 a.m., crude oil futures fell slightly, with US crude dropping 0.49% and Brent crude falling 0.52%. This is due to trade disputes leading the market to lower its expectations for demand growth. Barclays lowered its Brent crude oil price forecast for 2025 by $4 to $70 per barrel on Monday, citing intensifying trade tensions and a shift in OPEC's production strategy as reasons for an expected oil supply surplus of 1 million barrels per day this year. The bank forecasts a supply surplus of 1.5 million barrels per day in 2026 and warns that the market's "limited shock-absorbing capacity" could make prices vulnerable in the short term. Oil analyst Philip Verleger said in a report, "If exporting countries increase production, a sharp drop (in oil prices) seems possible."

Meanwhile, a preliminary survey of analysts on Monday showed that US crude oil inventories likely increased by about 500,000 barrels in the week ending April 15. Distillate inventories, including diesel and heating oil, are expected to decline by 1.7 million barrels. Gasoline inventories are expected to fall by about 1.2 million barrels. The weekly inventory report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) will be released at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will publish its weekly crude oil inventory report at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday. (Webstock Inc.)

Spot Market Overview:

Strong Stockpiling Sentiment Before Labour Day Holiday Drives Up SHFE Copper Spot Premiums [SMM SHFE Copper Spot]

Clearing of Inventories by Suppliers Before the Holiday Leads to Lower Premiums for Standard-Quality Copper [SMM South China Copper Spot]

Shanghai Zinc: Downstream Stockpiling Nearly Complete, Premiums Remain Stable [SMM Midday Review]

Tianjin Zinc: Weak Buying Sentiment in the Downstream, Premiums Continue to Decline [SMM Midday Review]

Ningbo Zinc: Limited Market Supply, Spot Premiums Remain High [SMM Midday Review]

[SMM Hot Topic] Domestic HRC Production May Have Limited Room for Fluctuation in May

Silver Prices Rise to Catch Up, Sluggish Spot Market Transactions Before Labour Day Holiday [SMM Daily Review]

Other metal spot midday reviews will be updated later. Please refresh to view~

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