Overnight, LME copper opened at $9,692.5/mt, reaching a high of $9,738.0/mt and a low of $9,684/mt, before closing at $9,727.0/mt, up 0.65%. Trading volume reached 14,874 lots, with open interest at 286,436 lots.

[6.26 Morning Meeting Minutes] Currently, the stainless steel market is in the traditional off-season for consumption, with persistent weakness in downstream demand. Despite the widespread losses faced by enterprises, some steel mills have already begun to implement production cuts. However, due to the large production base in the earlier period, the current market supply remains at a historically high level for the same period, and the contradiction of oversupply is particularly prominent. The shipping pressure on stainless steel mills, agents, and traders has risen sharply. Both in-plant inventory and social inventory remain high. Market pessimism has spread widely, and traders are scrambling to ship goods, leading to a continuous decline in stainless steel spot prices.

[SMM Daily Review: Demand for high-grade NPI may decline, with short-term high-grade NPI prices in the doldrums] On June 25, SMM reported that the average price of 8-12% high-grade NPI was 914 yuan/mtu (ex-factory, tax included), down 1 yuan/mtu from the previous working day...

As of now, the MHP coefficient (relative to the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index) ranges from 83.5% to 84%, and the FOB price of Indonesian MHP is $12,415/mt Ni.

On June 25, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 27,200 yuan/mt, with a quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate of 27,200-27,600 yuan/mt. The average price remained stable compared to yesterday.

Based on market changes and industrial demands, the SMM nickel team has conducted extensive surveys among upstream and downstream enterprises in the domestic nickel industry chain, as well as major traders. After exchanges and incorporating market feedback, the team initially believes that the following optimizations can be made to the "SMM #1 refined nickel" price:Price submitters will add four new brands to the existing circulating brands and producers of #1 refined nickel: Jinchuan #1 electrodeposited nickel, Huayou, CNGR, and GEM.

[6.25 Morning Meeting Minutes] Affected by the extension of the cobalt ban in the DRC, the demand for nickel in ternary materials has been suppressed, driving LME nickel prices to continue declining. Overall, the production cost of nickel salts has decreased. Supply side, the extension of the cobalt ban has fueled the reluctance to budge on prices among some nickel salt smelters, with some having already stopped quoting prices. Demand side, some precursor manufacturers have raised their price acceptance for nickel salts.