[Pr-Nd oxide continued to weaken, large factories’ evening purchases boosted confidence, medium-heavy rare earth followed the decline.] Yesterday, affected by wild swings in futures prices, most market participants had a strong wait-and-see sentiment. Factories were reluctant to sell and purchase, and some traders continued to sell small quantities at low prices. However, large factories’ purchases in the evening boosted some market confidence, and low-priced supply tightened again. In the medium-heavy rare earth market, prices of dysprosium oxide and terbium oxide also edged down with the market, but most factories kept their offers firm, and the decline was relatively small.

SMM Morning Brief: Overnight, LME copper opened at $13,992/mt, dipped to $13,975.5/mt in early trading, then drifted higher to hit a high of $14,150/mt, before eventually settling at $14,148.5/mt, up 0.75%. Trading volume stood at 20,200 lots, and open interest increased to 253,000 lots, up 1,896 lots from the previous trading day, as bulls added positions. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2609 contract opened at 107,350 yuan/mt, with an intraday high of 107,840 yuan/mt and a low of 107,300 yuan/mt, and settled at 107,770 yuan/mt, up 0.40%. Trading volume was 38,600 lots, while open interest fell to 214,000 lots, down 2,688 lots from the previous trading day, as bears reduced positions.

[SMM Zinc Morning Meeting Summary: LME Zinc Inventory Continues to Decline, LME Zinc Rises Significantly]: Overnight, LME zinc opened at $3,662/mt, and after opening it rose all the way, touching a low of $3,655.5/mt in early trading and a high of $3,748/mt near the close, finally ending up at $3,745.5/mt, up $84.5/mt, an increase of 2.31%, with trading volume rising to 13,736 lots···

[SMM Silicon-based PV Morning Meeting Minutes: Glass Price Raised, Solar Cell Producers Raised Quotes] Today, quotes in the solar cell market were generally raised, expectations for price hikes heated up, and multiple producers raised their quotes. The quotation range for 183 cells was 0.27-0.275 yuan/W, and those for 210N and 210R were raised to 0.26-0.265 yuan/W. However, downstream module procurement follow-up was weak, with a clear divergence between offer prices and actual transactions, and high prices have not yet been confirmed by actual orders. The market outlook will depend on downstream order performance. If high-priced deals are concluded, there is upside room for prices; if orders are insufficient, quotes may pull back again.

Some distributors' quotations are expected to be raised today, mainly affected by the rise in upstream raw material prices. Module producers plan to raise quotations, driving up distributors' quotations. However, current order support is relatively weak, and prices are expected to remain in a tug-of-war.

[Magnesium Ingot Market in the Doldrums, Drifts Lower; Domestic and Ex-China Demand Remains Weak] Today, the price center of magnesium ingot edged down, consolidating in the doldrums. Producer offers remained firm, but the room for price negotiation on actual orders widened. Downstream only made sporadic purchases on rigid demand, coupled with sluggish procurement due to summer break outside China and heavy price negotiations by foreign buyers. Tight supply of low-priced goods lent support to the market. In the short term, the market will maintain a narrow consolidation pattern on a subdued note.