[SMM Aluminum Price Weekly Review: Middle East Geopolitical Tensions Remain Uncertain, Aluminum Prices Expected to Fluctuate at Highs in the Short Term]

[Price Review] Silver prices continued to weaken early this week amid the fermentation of Trump's speech from last week, but on Wednesday (April 8), supported by the US-Iran ceasefire agreement and a weaker US dollar, silver prices began to rebound, surging nearly 5% on April 8 alone. Short-term capital momentum, investment demand, and industrial demand had not recovered, with strong wait-and-see sentiment among market traders. Downstream transactions were still dominated by significantly reduced premium prices, and precious metal price gains remained relatively limited. Gold/silver ratio, as of April 8, the LBMA gold/silver ratio stood at 62, maintaining a fluctuating trend in the short term. [Key Data] Bearish: US March seasonally adjusted non-farm payrolls came in at 178,000, above expectations and the previous value US March unemployment rate was reported at 4.3%, below expectations and the previous value US EIA crude oil inventory for the week ending April 3 was 308.1, above expectations and the previous value US API crude oil inventory for the week ending April 3 was above expectations and the previous value On April 7, the US and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement, but Trump threatened that any country providing military weapons to Iran would be immediately subject to a 50% tariff. Data and macro news releases to watch next week include: On April 10 (Friday), the US is set to release March CPI data. Affected by energy price surges caused by the Iran war, the market widely expects inflation to rise significantly. Geopolitics, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf will lead an Iranian delegation to negotiate with the US in Islamabad, Pakistan, with the US side led by Vice President Vance. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz invited both the Iranian and US delegations to further negotiate in Islamabad on April 10 to reach a final agreement resolving all disputes. Regarding the Strait of Hormuz situation, cracks appeared in the US-Iran ceasefire agreement, with Iran claiming three key provisions were violated, and the Strait of Hormuz has been closed again. [Price Forecast] In the short term, the trajectory of the US-Iran conflict remains the primary factor determining whether silver prices will sustain the rebound, with insufficient support from short-term industrial demand and investment demand. China fundamentals side, silver ingot spot cargo had shown a slight surplus and inventory buildup trend. Due to relatively pessimistic expectations for the PV industry in April, just-in-time procurement demand for silver nitrate, silver powder, and silver paste enterprises declined. As the SHFE April delivery approaches, suppliers showed a notably increased intention to deliver and liquidate, and the upward trend in silver ingot social inventory is likely to continue. Although silver prices next week may be boosted by the ceasefire and a weaker US dollar, the overall in the doldrums situation for precious metals has not been fully reversed. Spot transaction expectations remain at a slight premium or shifting to parity, and close attention should continue to be paid to changes in geopolitical conflicts and their impact on market sentiment and capital flow adjustments.

The UK government has granted planning approval for the 800 MW Springwell Solar Farm, developed by Luminous Energy and EDF Power Solutions. Scheduled to connect to the grid in 2029, it will become the UK’s largest solar installation to date. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband issued the Development Consent Order (DCO) on April 8, 2026, overriding local concerns regarding agricultural land impact, while a GBP 2 million community funding package was welcomed. Simultaneously, Statkraft is progressing with its 500 MW Mylen Leah Solar Farm proposal. The approval of such large-scale projects marks a significant milestone in the UK’s mission to accelerate decarbonization and secure homegrown clean energy.

Zhenbang Intelligent stated at its earnings briefing that the company has established a presence in the humanoid robot sector with core parts including intelligent controllers, battery management systems and battery packs, and exoskeletons. However, the revenue and capacity scale of these products are currently relatively small, with limited impact on the company's overall performance. The company's optical module reader/writer products have achieved mass production, but the operating revenue from these products currently accounts for a relatively small proportion of the company's total revenue.

[SMM Steel] The initial rollout of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism has already impacted Ukraine’s steel sector, with producers losing over 1.1 million mt of export orders in Q1 2026. Companies including Metinvest, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, and Interpipe reported order cancellations, higher compliance costs, and operational challenges. Additional CBAM-related costs and technical barriers are tightening access to the EU market, raising concerns over export competitiveness.

As of April 3, the average domestic zinc concentrate TC dropped to 1,350 yuan/mt in metal content, and the imported zinc concentrate TC fell to -$14.5/dmt, with the import market once again entering negative territory. After Chinese New Year, domestic mines gradually resumed production — so why did zinc concentrate TCs decline again in April?