SMM Evening Comments (Mar 8): Shanghai nonferrous metals rose across the board on Monday

SHANGHAI, Mar 8 (SMM) – SHFE nonferrous metals were mostly higher on Monday. Copper added 0.49%, aluminium advanced 0.17%, zinc strengthened 1.05% and nickel inched up 0.26%, while lead shed 1.5% and tin declined 1.99%.

SMM data showed that social inventories of refined zinc ingots across Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Hebei increased 2,100 mt from last Friday March 5 to 261,000 mt as of Monday March 8.

Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin expanded 500 mt from last Friday March 5 to 58,500 mt as of Monday March 8, an SMM survey showed. This was up about 10,000 mt from last Monday March 1.

Copper: The most-traded SHFE 2105 copper contract finished the day 0.49% higher at 65,870 yuan/mt, with open interest losing 1,409 lots to 125,000 lots. Open interest of the April contract decreased 3,387 lots to 105,000 lots.

The US Senate passed President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package, and the House of Representatives majority leader said that they will vote on the revised Senate bill on Tuesday. US Treasury Secretary Yellen and several Fed officials downplayed concerns that high US Treasury yields reflect rising inflation. US non-farm employment surged more than expected by 379,000 in February, while unemployment rate fell to 6.2%.

Aluminum: The most-active SHFE 2104 aluminium contract ended the day 0.17% higher at 17,260 yuan/mt.

Zinc: The most-liquid SHFE 2104 zinc contract rose 1.05% to close the day at 21,260 yuan/mt, with open interest losing 1,695 lots to 71,965 lots. Improving downstream consumption boosted zinc prices.

Nickel: The most-traded SHFE 2106 nickel contract added 0.26% to finish the day at 122,070 yuan/mt.

Lead: The most-liquid SHFE 2104 lead contract closed the day 1.5% lower at 14,825 yuan/mt, with open interest rising 6,709 lots to 40,399 lots. Falling Chinese stocks, rising lead ingot inventories and tepid consumption weighed on lead prices.

Tin: The most-active SHFE 2105 tin contract fell 1.99% to end the day at 170,850 yuan/mt, with open interest adding 1,841 lots to 30,366 lots.

According to data from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade, Indonesia's refined tin exports in February fell 42.2% year-on-year to 4,313.61 mt, an increase of only 4.1% month-on-month. Indonesian tin exports remained sluggish in February, but are likely to improve in March as local wet season comes to an end.

The May tin contract is expected to move between 168,000-180,000 yuan/mt tonight.