Ningbo HRC large-sample inventory was 325,000 mt, down 11,600 mt WoW (-3.45%), marking the second consecutive weekly decline.

SMM, August 13: Today, offers from upstream smelters in the secondary refined lead market actively followed the upturn, suggesting that online prices be raised by 75-100 yuan/mt. Some cargoes were shipped ex-works at parity or a slight premium to the SMM #1 lead average price, while mainstream transaction prices were at a discount of 75-50 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price. Actual downstream purchasing showed limited follow-through and consisted mainly of small restocking as needed. In the short term, smelters have a strong willingness to hold prices firm, but downstream acceptance is limited, and the market will remain in a deadlock. Today, the SMM secondary refined lead average price was reported at 15,725 yuan/mt, a discount of 50 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price. Supplier shipment sentiment stood at 1.59, and secondary refined lead purchase sentiment stood at 0.94 today (historical data can be queried by logging in to the database).

[ADC12 Daily Price Review: Aluminum Alloy Futures and Spot Prices Fall in Tandem; ADC12 to Move Sideways in the Short Term] Today, aluminum alloy market quotes were broadly lower, with the SMM ADC12 price revised down by 200 yuan/mt. The pullback in futures further dampened spot market sentiment, and enterprises generally followed suit by lowering their quotes.

According to SMM data, on August 13, the FOB price of nickel in Indonesian MHP fell $35/mt Ni from the previous day, and the FOB price of cobalt in Indonesian MHP fell $1,436/mt Co. The FOB price of Indonesian high-grade nickel matte fell $36/mt Ni.

[SMM Analysis] This week, the energy storage battery cell market showed structural divergence, with demand for utility-scale energy storage remaining stable, the supply-demand pattern remaining tight, and mainstream product prices holding steady overall; residential ESS was affected by weakening demand expectations outside China and earlier inventory accumulation, with integrators' cargo pick-up pace slowing and some residential battery cell quotes revised downward.

As of now, the FOB price of Indonesian MHP nickel is $15,083/mt Ni, and the FOB price of Indonesian MHP cobalt is $45,185/mt Co. MHP payables (against the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index) stand at 83.5-84.5, and MHP cobalt payables (against SMM refined cobalt (Rotterdam warehouse)) stand at 86. The FOB price of Indonesian high-grade nickel matte is $15,505/mt Ni.