SMM

Last evening, LME zinc opened at $2602.5/mt and closed up $39.5/mt or 1.52% at $2642/mt. The trading volume was 8914 lots, and open interest decreased 612 lots to 194,000 lots. The market's optimism that the U.S. will cut interest rates as early as March continues to grow, the market's bullish sentiment continues to ferment, the U.S. dollar index continues to decline, and the market is on the strong side.
Last evening, the most active SHFE 2402 zinc contract prices opened at 21400 yuan/mt and closed at 21515 yuan/mt, up 165 yuan/mt or 0.77%. Trading volume stood at 34,000 lots, and open interest gained by 617 lots to 88,000 lots. Fundamentally, the SHFE/LME price ratio has recently fallen to around 8.3, import losses are around 300-400 yuan/ton, with the import window closed. Spot prices have been given support; however, considering the current insufficient demand for environmental protection production restrictions in the north, as well as weak orders in the south, the fundamental support is relatively limited, and it may be difficult for zinc prices to move upward.