SMM Evening Comments (Apr 15): Shanghai nonferrous metals closed mostly higher, nickel fell 0.26%

SHANGHAI, Apr 15 (SMM) – SHFE nonferrous metals rose for the most part on Thursday April 15 with earnings and inflation in focus.

Aluminium, the best performer, rose 2.78%, copper advanced 2.64%, lead went up 0.2%, zinc climbed 1.17% and tin gained 1.18%, while nickel fell 0.26%.

Operating rates of blast furnaces at steel mills rose 0.5 percentage point from a week ago and fell 2.48 percentage points from a month ago to 84.5% as of April 15, SMM survey showed.

The ferrous complex closed mixed. Hot-rolled coil decreased 0.57%, rebar slipped 0.47%, while iron ore surged 3.56%.

Copper: The most-traded SHFE 2106 copper contract finished the day 2.64% higher at 68,040 yuan/mt. Open interest rose 28,770 lots to 161,000 lots.

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said that he will wait for inflation and employment to reach the goal before considering raising interest rates, and will reduce the scale of bond purchases before raising interest rates; The economy has entered a faster growth track, but one of the main risks is that the number of people infected in COVID-19 may surge again due to the mutant strain. The Beige Book of the Federal Reserve said that the growth of economic activities in the US accelerated from the end of February to the beginning of April, and consumer spending improved. In addition, the Dallas Fed President said that the higher yield of US bonds is natural, reflecting the improvement of economic prospects. Under the constant appeasement of the US, the bullish sentiment was boosted, and the bulls took the initiative to lift up copper prices to break through the integer mark of 68,000 yuan/mt.

US retail sales data in March, the number of initial jobless claims, and whether the bullish sentiment could continue to drive copper prices to break through the previous pressure level will be monitored tonight.

Aluminium: The most-liquid SHFE 2105 aluminium contract finished the day 2.78% higher at 18,320 yuan/mt. Open interest rose 6,590 lots to 197,975 lots. SMM data showed that stocks of 6063 aluminium billet across the five major consumption areas – Foshan, Wuxi, Huzhou, Changzhou and Nanchang – in China dropped 15,800 mt from the previous week to 165,200 mt as of April 15.

Zinc: The most-active SHFE 2105 zinc contract closed up 1.17% at 21,675 yuan/mt. Open interest fell 10,424 lots to 61,016 lots.

Nickel: The most-traded SHFE 2106 nickel contract ended the day 0.26% lower at 121,350 yuan/mt today. Open interest rose 5,305 lots to 169,559 lots.

Lead: The most-traded SHFE 2105 lead contract rose to an intraday high of 14,925 yuan/mt and ended the day 0.3% higher at 14,880 yuan/mt. Open interest rose 158 lots to 49,868 lots. Trading in the spot market is average today, and the pressure on the supply side is moderate in the medium term under the maintenance expectation in April, while the incremental expectation after the recovery from maintenance still put pressure on lead prices. Whether the contract could stand firm above 14,800 yuan/mt will be monitored tonight.

Tin: The most-liquid SHFE 2106 tin contract fell to a session low of 178,210 yuan/mt and finished the day 1.18% higher at 179,960 yuan/mt today. Open interest rose 1,264 lots to 33,817 lots. The main smelting production areas reduced and stopped production. The tight spot will support the trend of SHFE tin. The contract will keep fluctuating strongly in the near term. Pressure above will be seen from 181,000 yuan/mt today. Support below will be seen from 177,000 yuan/mt today.