SMM

[Copper Cathode Rod Weekly Inventory] Raw material inventories of major domestic copper cathode rod enterprises this week (November 28 to December 4) increased slightly by 0.74% WoW to 27,200 mt, while finished product inventories rose 9.94% WoW to 73,400 mt. This was mainly due to sluggish transactions during the week, a decline in the operating rate, inventory buildup of raw materials, and weak transactions putting upward pressure on finished product inventories.

[Copper Cathode Rod Weekly Operating Rate] The operating rate of major domestic copper cathode rod enterprises this week (November 28 to December 4) was 66.41%, down 2.78 percentage points WoW and down 15.53 percentage points YoY. Copper prices hit a record high this week, significantly suppressing consumption in the copper cathode rod industry. Weak consumption led to inventory buildup at enterprises. The operating rate is expected to drop 3.79 percentage points WoW to 62.62% next week (December 5 to December 11), down 19.75 percentage points YoY.

The transition period for the implementation of the new mandatory national standard for e-bikes, "Safety Technical Specification for Electric Bicycles" (GB17761-2024), officially ended on November 30, 2025. A relevant official from the Department of Consumer Goods Industries stated that some enterprises had not fully and accurately understood the new standard during its implementation, particularly by failing to adequately consider consumers' actual needs in the product design process, resulting in insufficiently user-friendly experiences. This led to criticism of the vehicles produced and released, though this situation is not a widespread phenomenon in the industry. In the next step, the Department of Consumer Goods Industries will continue to closely monitor the opinions and suggestions from the broad consumer base regarding e-bike products, promote e-bike producers to continuously optimize product R&D and design, increase the market supply of new standard car models, and better meet consumers' travel needs.

Amid the AI boom, supplies of certain AI chip modules have become tight. Storage producer Transcend informed its customers in a letter dated December 2 that it had again received notifications from two major NAND flash suppliers, Samsung and SanDisk, regarding delayed shipments. The company also stated that it had not received any new chips since October, and its chip allocation for the current quarter was significantly reduced. Transcend explained that major cloud service providers are expanding their data center deployments, driving up chip demand, while key producers are prioritizing supplies for certain customers, worsening market availability and stimulating price increases. Due to the sharp decline in NAND flash supply, Transcend mentioned in the letter that costs surged by 50% to 100% last week, and the upward price trend continues, describing the increase as quite unusual. Supply is also expected to decrease significantly over the next two to three weeks.

[SMM Nickel Flash] SMM December 5: According to SMM, a domestic high-grade NPI ex-factory price of 910-920 yuan/nickel unit was recently observed, with a weekly trading volume totaling 6,000 mt. Nickel content: 8-12%, delivery scheduled before December 2025 month-end.

[SMM Nickel Flash]SMM, December 5: According to SMM, some Indonesian high-grade NPI was recently transacted at a landed price of 900-910 yuan/nickel unit, with a total market transaction volume of 8,000 mt. Nickel content: 10-13%, delivery scheduled before the end of December 2025.

According to SMM data, as of December 4, the weekly new orders of enamelled wire enterprises decreased by 5.51 percentage points WoW. Copper prices broke through the 90,000 yuan/mt mark and continued to climb higher, while downstream purchase willingness remained sluggish. The enamelled wire industry has returned to a downturn, and the industry's operating rate is expected to drop significantly next week.

On December 5, the SMM #1 refined nickel price was 117,400-122,700 yuan/mt, with an average price of 120,050 yuan/mt, down 350 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The mainstream spot premium quotation range for Jinchuan #1 refined nickel was 4,800-5,000 yuan/mt, with an average premium of 4,900 yuan/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The spot premium and discount quotation range for mainstream domestic brands of electrodeposited nickel was -200-400 yuan/mt.

Today, the central bank conducted 1,000 billion yuan in outright reverse repo operations using a fixed-amount, interest-rate tender, and multiple-price award method, with a maturity of three months (91 days), to maintain ample liquidity in the banking system. Data showed that 1,000 billion yuan in three-month outright reverse repos matured in December, and according to the central bank's announcement, this month's operation was a full rollover.