[SMM Tin Morning Briefing] At the beginning of last week, high prices significantly suppressed downstream purchase willingness, while later some enterprises made moderate restocking for rigid demand at lower prices.

SMM Tin Morning Briefing, April 7, 2026:

Macro: (1) Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday that its Q1 operating profit is expected to increase more than eightfold year on year, exceeding market expectations. The boom in AI infrastructure has led to supply bottlenecks and pushed up chip prices. The world's largest memory chip maker expects operating profit for January-March at 5.72 trillion won (about $37.92 billion), versus 669 billion won in the same period last year, above the 4.06 trillion won expected by institutions. (2) According to AXIOS, Meta Platforms (META.O) is preparing to release the first batch of new AI models developed under the leadership of Alexandr Wang, and plans to eventually offer versions of these models under open-source licenses. Sources said that before formally releasing versions of the new models, Meta hopes to keep some technologies proprietary and ensure that these technologies do not create new safety risks. Alexandr Wang believes that Anthropic and OpenAI are increasingly focused on providing their models to governments and enterprises. By contrast, Meta's efforts are focused on consumers. Meta hopes its models can be popularized as widely as possible worldwide. Sources said Meta understands that its newly launched models may not match the new products from those labs in overall performance, but believes they can still have advantages in certain areas, thereby attracting consumers. In addition, Meta will not fully return to its earlier open stance.

Fundamentals: (1) Supply side: Most smelters will maintain stable production in April. (2) Demand side: Downstream procurement remained cautious, with purchases made according to order conditions.

Spot market: At the beginning of last week, high prices significantly suppressed downstream purchase willingness, and the market showed a pattern of "prices quoted but no transactions." As futures pulled back, some enterprises carried out moderate restocking for rigid demand on dips, but after prices stabilized, purchase willingness cooled again, and downstream players generally maintained a cautious wait-and-see stance.

[Data Source Disclaimer: Except for public information, all other data is processed and derived by SMM based on public information, market communication, and SMM's internal database models, and is for reference only and does not constitute decision-making advice. The information provided is for reference only. This article does not constitute direct advice for investment research decisions. Clients should make decisions prudently and should not use this as a replacement for their own independent judgment. Any decisions made by clients are unrelated to SMM.]