[EU Agrees to Ban Russian Aluminum Imports] The EU has issued another ban, agreeing to prohibit the import of Russian aluminum. However, the market remains uncertain about the long-term impact of current geopolitical tensions on metals, ultimately leading to a mixed performance in the London metal market overnight. Nickel prices rebounded from losses and closed higher again. Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange last closed at $15,420/mt, rising slightly by around 0.5% during the session. EU envoys agreed to ban the import of Russian primary aluminum under the 16th sanctions package, which will be adopted on Monday. EU diplomats stated that the ban on Russian aluminum imports will be implemented in phases within one year after its formal enforcement. Meanwhile, the market is also focusing on Trump's threat to impose a 25% tariff on automobiles and semiconductor chips. Domestically, during the night session, Shanghai nickel futures first dipped and then rebounded, closing slightly higher, with resistance near the 124,000-yuan level. The final closing price was 123,980 yuan/mt, up by 200 yuan or 0.16%.

[SMM Analysis: Will Nickel Prices Continue to Fluctuate? A Multi-dimensional Analysis of Nickel Price Trends] This week, Shanghai nickel prices are expected to fluctuate within a certain range. In order to comprehensively analyze the trend of nickel prices, we consider it from multiple dimensions: I. Capital Level From a technical perspective, the current market structure indicates that short-selling forces are still actively selling, pushing down nickel prices. However, the scattered orders in the market show a slight trend towards long positions. Behind this contradictory phenomenon are the following reasons...

【SMM Flash】As of the close on Friday, the main contract of Shanghai nickel fell to 123,940 yuan/ton.

SMM May 15th: On May 15th, the opening price of the main Shanghai nickel contract was 144,460 yuan/ton and the closing price was 144,380 yuan/ton, a decrease of 80 yuan/ton from the closing price of the previous trading day. Intraday trading increased from the previous trading day, with a trading volume of 215865 lots and an open interest of 78,586 lots, an increase of 16,653 lots and a decrease of 1,431 lots from the previous trading day. This combination shows that the long and short sides have a strong interest in trading...

SMM April 29th: On April 29th, the opening price of the main Shanghai nickel contract was 145,000 yuan/ton and the closing price was 142,850 yuan/ton, a decrease of 3,020 yuan/ton from the closing price of the previous trading day. Intraday trading increased from the previous trading day, with a trading volume of 291042 lots and an open interest of 100654 lots, an increase of 21,522 lots and an increase of 1,132 lots from the previous trading day. This combination indicates that both long and short positions are increased...

Metals market: As of midday close, the base metals in the domestic market were generally lower. Shanghai lead and Shanghai zinc rose slightly, and the increase was within 0.5%. Shanghai copper, Shanghai aluminum, and Shanghai nickel all fell, and the decline was within 0.6% (inclusive).