[SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Sticky US Inflation Persisted, and the Center of LME Zinc Moved Lower] Overnight, LME zinc opened at $3,313/mt. In early trading, LME zinc maintained a fluctuating trend and touched a high of $3,352/mt. Entering the European trading session, LME zinc quickly fell to a low of $3,296.5/mt. In the night session, LME zinc gradually recovered its losses and fluctuated upward, hovering near the daily average line, before closing down at $3,315.5/mt, down $26.5/mt, or 0.79%. Trading volume decreased to 91,642 lots, and open interest increased by 494 lots to 217,000 lots.

[Repeated Macro Sentiment Led to Wide Swings in SHFE Zinc]: The most-traded SHFE zinc 2604 contract opened at 24,370 yuan/mt. SHFE zinc briefly rose in early trading to a high of 24,460 yuan/mt, after which bulls reduced their open interest, and SHFE zinc fluctuated downward with its center moving lower, eventually closing down at 24,300 yuan/mt, down 85 yuan/mt, or 0.35%. Trading volume increased to 109,000 lots, while open interest fell by 1,494 lots to 74,220 lots.

China’s silver prices fluctuated and consolidated this week. The price spread between the Gold Exchange TD price and the SHFE March contract kept narrowing, while a large volume of imported silver ingots entered the market to meet downstream demand, driving down spot premiums for physical silver ingots rapidly. Although many suppliers were reluctant to sell and mostly held firm on offers, downstream buyers actively negotiated for lower prices, and spot premiums in China had already fallen sharply by the end of the week. As of Thursday, in the Shanghai market, the tradable quote for domestic standard silver ingots against TD premiums had been lowered to 600-700 yuan/kg. A few suppliers held firm and were reluctant to sell at premiums of 700-800 yuan/kg against TD, but actual transactions were thin. In Shenzhen, imported large ingots were processed into small ingots before entering the market for trading. Some suppliers, concerned that spot premiums would continue to fall, sold at premiums of 400-500 yuan/kg against TD. Downstream buyers actively negotiated, but remained cautious and mostly stayed on the sidelines due to concerns over further declines in both absolute prices and spot premiums. Actual procurement transactions weakened, and some downstream purchasing demand was delayed until next week. Inventory side, silver social inventory across different regions rose and fell this week. Imported large ingots or silver ingots processed from imported crude silver raw materials entered social warehouses. As downstream demand remained strong, the increase in supply only led to a slight overall buildup in silver ingot social inventory this week.

[SMM Zinc Morning Comment] The most-traded SHFE zinc 2604 contract opened lower with a gap at 24,245 yuan/mt. In early trading, SHFE zinc fluctuated and dipped to 24,095 yuan/mt. Subsequently, as bears reduced open interest, SHFE zinc gradually rose above the daily average line, touched a high of 24,385 yuan/mt near the close, and finally closed down at 24,375 yuan/mt, down 10 yuan/mt, or 0.04%. Trading volume decreased to 54,485 lots, and open interest increased by 94 lots to 74,314 lots.

SMM, March 12: Guangdong: Spot premiums in the region continued to rise this week. Lower copper prices, coupled with an increase in terminal orders, lifted consumption among copper processing enterprises, driving inventory lower and supporting higher spot premiums. As of Thursday, high-quality copper was quoted at 160 yuan/mt, up 160 yuan/mt from last Thursday; standard-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 40 yuan/mt, up 240 yuan/mt from last Thursday; and SX-EW copper was quoted at a discount of 20 yuan/mt, up 240 yuan/mt from last Thursday. On Thursday, the price spread in standard-quality copper premiums between Shanghai and Guangdong stood at 0 yuan/mt. With the spread relatively small, there was no cross-region cargo transfer. According to SMM statistics, as of Thursday, total inventory in Guangdong warehouses was 90,800 mt, down 6,300 mt from last Thursday. Warrants totaled 51,300 mt, down 1,500 mt from last Thursday. As spot cargo supply decreased and discounts turned into premiums, warrants began flowing into the market. Specifically, warehouse arrivals this week were 13,100 mt/week, down 2,500 mt/week WoW and slightly below the annual average of 14,000 mt/week. Arrivals of both imported copper and domestic copper declined WoW this week. Warehouse withdrawals were 20,200 mt/week, up 8,600 mt/week WoW and far above the annual average of 14,200 mt/week. After the Lantern Festival, downstream enterprises fully resumed operations. In addition, many enterprises had not stockpiled much before the holiday, and actively replenished inventory after the holiday while copper prices remained low. Looking ahead to next week, although delivery is approaching, spot cargo has already shifted to premiums. Suppliers are expected to show weaker willingness to deliver cargo to warehouses for delivery, and imported copper arrivals have also not increased. Total supply is expected to be slightly lower than this week. On the demand side, demand is expected to remain at this week's high level. Therefore, inventory is expected to remain in a state where demand exceeds supply next week, with inventory fluctuating lower, and spot premiums are expected to continue rebounding. (The above information is based on market collection and the comprehensive assessment of the SMM research team. The information provided in this article is for reference only. This article does not constitute direct advice for investment research decisions. Clients should make decisions prudently and should not use this as a substitute for their own independent judgment. Any decisions made by clients are unrelated to SMM.)

Platinum prices remained in the doldrums today. In early trading, the most-traded PT2606 platinum contract on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange closed at 562.45 yuan/g, down 1.42. In the spot market, spot platinum was quoted at a discount of 10-12 yuan/g against PT2606, or at a premium of 2-4 yuan/g against the SGE sell-1 price. Spot discounts were basically flat from the previous trading day. As for spot transactions, cargo holders and traders actively offered quotes. Some traders said supply in the market was currently ample, while downstream clients had relatively sufficient inventory and mainly stayed on the sidelines. Coupled with a clear cooling in investment demand, it was extremely difficult to hold prices firm and conclude deals, and overall trading in the spot market was subdued.