SMM News, March 25: In early trading, SHFE aluminum 2604 fluctuated downward, but was slightly higher than the previous trading day. Overall market buying sentiment was good, and sellers held prices firm as aluminum prices remained at relatively low levels. Later in the morning, SHFE aluminum 2604 fluctuated upward, with its center running higher than the previous trading day. Some sellers still did not quote prices, while some showed a notably stronger willingness to hold prices firm. Overall market buying sentiment was good. Today’s mainstream transaction prices were concentrated around the average price of the SHFE aluminum 04 contract to a premium of 10 yuan/mt. Today, the east China market shipment sentiment index was 2.64, up 0.01 WoW; the purchasing sentiment index was 2.42, up 0.02 WoW. Today, aluminum prices stopped falling and rebounded. Affected by the fear of further declines over the previous two days, traders and downstream processing enterprises in central China showed slightly improved buying sentiment today from the previous day, but overall transactions had not yet returned to a fully active state, and buyers tended to purchase at wider discounts. Ultimately, actual transaction prices in the central China market ranged from a discount of 20 yuan to a premium of 10 yuan against the central China price. Today, the central China market shipment sentiment index was 2.64, up 0.01 WoW; the purchasing sentiment index was 2.42, up 0.02 WoW. Inventory side, aluminum ingot inventory in major consumption regions increased by 4,000 mt from the previous period today, with Guangdong being the main source of destocking. In the short term, aluminum ingot continued its post-Chinese New Year seasonal inventory buildup. Supported by bullish sentiment, premiums are expected to remain on a narrowing trend.

The latest customs data showed that in February 2026, China’s imports of unwrought silver ingots with a purity of no less than 99.99% reached 206.76 mt, up 499% MoM and surging 5,910% YoY to a multi-year high. The rare opening of the import window drove significant changes in the supply-demand pattern of the domestic silver ingot market.

Today, the most-traded BC copper 2604 contract opened at the intraday low of 82,550 yuan/mt, then fluctuated upward in early trading. After the daytime session opened, the center of copper prices surged in a straight line to a high of 85,250 yuan/mt, then moved in wide swings and finally closed at 84,610 yuan/mt, up 1.22%. Open interest stood at 4,302 lots, down 643 lots from the previous trading day, while trading volume reached 3,695 lots, indicating bears reduced positions. On the macro front, the US Department of Justice admitted it lacked evidence for its investigation into Powell, and his term is expected to be extended; coupled with renewed market expectations for easing tensions in the Middle East and somewhat alleviated inflation concerns, the US dollar weakened, and multiple positive factors jointly boosted copper prices. Fundamentally, on the supply side, arrivals of both domestic and imported cargoes were steady, with ample market circulation; on the demand side, affected by rising copper prices, downstream purchasing sentiment pulled back, with procurement maintained only for rigid demand. The SHFE copper 2604 contract closed at 95,550 yuan/mt. Based on the BC copper 2604 contract at 84,610 yuan/mt, its after-tax price was 95,609 yuan/mt. The price spread between the SHFE copper 2604 contract and BC copper was -59, with the spread inverting again.

Spot prices of #1 copper cathode in North China against the front-month contract were reported at a discount of 110 yuan/mt to a discount of 50 yuan/mt today, unchanged from the previous trading day, while the average transaction price rose 1,635 yuan/mt from the previous trading day to 95,595 yuan/mt.

[Overnight, LME Aluminum and SHFE Aluminum Edged Up Slightly, but Aluminum Prices Faced Short-Term Pressure at High Levels] Continued destocking in LME inventory provided bottom support for LME aluminum, but amid tightening fund liquidity and profit-taking by bulls, upward momentum remained insufficient, and the backwardation structure weakened somewhat. China’s social inventory rose to a high for the same period in nearly five years, and the inventory buildup cycle had yet to end, with high inventory and weak spot fundamentals jointly weighing on upward momentum. The divergence between domestic and overseas drivers continued, the SHFE/LME price ratio kept weakening, and prices were mainly under pressure in the short term.

On March 25, the SMM average price of battery-grade nickel sulphate remained stable.