Platinum prices remained in the doldrums today. In early trading, the most-traded PT2606 platinum contract on GFEX closed at 546 yuan/g, down 1.54. In the spot market, spot platinum was quoted at discounts of 9-11 yuan/g against PT2606, or at premiums of 1-3 yuan/g against SGE sell 1, with spot discounts narrowing slightly from the previous trading day. As for spot transactions, SMM learned that some cargo-holding traders actively offered quotes and reported poor trading in early morning trade, with quotes at a 10 yuan/g discount against GFEX proving difficult to conclude. Later, as futures moved lower, transactions recovered, downstream enterprises purchased as needed, and overall trading in the spot market was normal.

[SMM Tin Midday Commentary: Under Macro Pressure, SHFE Tin Contracts Fell to 366,000, and Trading in the Spot Market Was Relatively Active]

[Shanghai Spot Copper] Intraday trading in the spot market improved somewhat from yesterday. Suppliers still showed willingness to hold prices firm, but some suppliers’ sell-offs temporarily weighed on the market, causing spot premiums to decline somewhat in the second trading session. Coupled with the narrowing Contango price spread between nearby futures contracts, suppliers’ willingness to ship to delivery warehouses weakened somewhat, and spot premiums remained under pressure. Demand side, as copper prices fell, downstream enterprises may have had some restocking demand, but the current copper prices had limited actual appeal. Supply side, social inventory remained at a high level, but spot cargo available for actual circulation was relatively tight. Some warrants were already seen flowing out during the day, which may ease some pressure on spot supply. Meanwhile, the import window remained open, and expectations for subsequent inflows of cargo from outside China increased. Overall, amid the tug-of-war between sellers and buyers, Shanghai spot copper is expected to maintain the current discount structure overall tomorrow.

HRC futures retreated after a rapid rise today, with the most-traded contract closing at 3,313, up 0.21 for the day. In the spot market, prices in most major markets were generally stable with slight fall. Trading was moderate in the morning session, then weakened afterward. In terms of supply, as the Two Sessions ended, production resumed in north China, and the impact from hot-rolled maintenance declined. The impact from hot-rolled maintenance was 314,900 mt this week, down 99,000 mt WoW. The impact from hot-rolled maintenance next week will be 8.06 mt, down 234,300 mt from this week, and pressure on hot-rolled supply gradually rebounded. On the demand side, end-users resumed normal procurement after the holiday, gradually increasing to seasonal levels. On the raw ....

[SMM Daily Hot-Rolled Coil Trading] On March 17, the total daily trading volume of hot-rolled coil among SMM sample enterprises in four cities (Shanghai, Lecong, Tianjin, and Ningbo) was 15,070 mt, down 320 mt day on day (-2.1%), with solar-calendar YoY up 5.09% and lunar-calendar YoY down 29.18%.

During the day, the SHFE copper 2604 contract declined somewhat, with its trading range shifting lower to around 98,100-98,500 yuan/mt. According to SMM communications, after the center of copper prices moved lower, market buying interest recovered markedly. Downstream processing enterprises reported that order volumes from end-users had risen recently, and they were actively replenishing raw material inventory amid the pullback in copper prices. At the same time, upstream smelters also reported strong buying sentiment in the spot market, with relatively active downstream procurement and smooth overall transactions. This round of pullback in copper prices stimulated previously suppressed restocking demand, and downstream enterprises showed strong willingness to buy the dip.