It is understood that from June 7 to June 13, 2025, the weekly composite operating rate of lead-acid battery enterprises in the five provinces monitored by SMM was 72.19%, up 11.8 percentage points WoW. This week, the impact of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday was fully lifted, and lead-acid battery enterprises gradually resumed normal production, leading to an increase in the weekly operating rate. The main sectors contributing to this increase were e-bike and automotive battery enterprises, which had holidays ranging from 1 to 5 days during the Dragon Boat Festival, while ESS battery enterprises experienced relatively minor changes in production. From the perspective of end-use consumption, the e-bike and automotive battery markets are still in the traditional off-season, with slow digestion of battery inventory. Dealers are cautious in their procurement, and most enterprises have not been able to reach full production capacity after resuming production during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. The operating rates range from around 50% to 70-90%.

This week, there were no significant changes in end-use consumption in the e-bike and automotive battery markets. Dealers generally maintained a purchasing as needed model, and large enterprises resumed normal production after the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. Among them, the wholesale market for e-bike batteries was generally concerned about whether the price increases of first-tier brands would be implemented. Dealers were eagerly waiting to see, with battery inventories ranging from 7 to 30 days. Meanwhile, the automotive battery wholesale market was still in a sales promotions atmosphere, with dealers struggling to sell their inventories and holding a pessimistic sentiment about the future market. On the producer side, as lead prices gradually rose, lead-acid batteries maintained a purchasing as needed model and, during periods of insufficient secondary lead supply, opted more for primary lead. Spot transactions in South China relatively improved.

According to SMM data, the operating rates of brass billet producers increased slightly by 0.13% MoM to 52.01% this week, indicating a slight rebound in production. However, this was mainly due to the exclusion of factors related to the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. After excluding the holiday-related disturbances, the weak downstream demand remained significant: orders in the home appliance market showed signs of accelerating weakness, with small and medium-sized producers reducing procurement volumes due to sluggish end-use consumption, and large enterprises also slowing down their production schedules due to inventory turnover pressures. The finished product inventories accumulated by most enterprises in the early stage have not yet been fully digested, and enterprises remain cautious about raw material procurement, refraining from stockpiling in large quantities. SMM samples showed that the days of raw material inventories decreased by 0.36 days MoM to 4.47 days this week, while the days of finished product inventories decreased by 0.19 days MoM to 6.73 days.

According to data from SMM, the operating rates of brass billet producers increased slightly by 0.13% MoM to 52.01% this week, indicating a slight rebound in production. However, this was mainly due to the exclusion of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday factor. After excluding the holiday disturbance, the weak downstream demand remained significant: orders in the home appliance market showed signs of accelerating weakness, with small and medium-sized producers reducing procurement volumes due to sluggish end-use consumption, and large enterprises also slowing down their production schedules due to inventory turnover pressures. The finished product inventories accumulated by most enterprises in the early stage have not yet been fully digested, and enterprises remain cautious about raw material procurement, refraining from stockpiling in large quantities. SMM samples show that the days of raw material inventories decreased by 0.36 days MoM to 4.47 days this week, while the days of finished product inventories decreased by 0.19 days MoM to 6.73 days.

According to SMM data, the operating rate of brass billet enterprises increased slightly by 0.13% MoM to 52.01% this week, indicating a slight rebound in production. However, this was mainly due to the exclusion of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday factor. After excluding the holiday disturbance, the weak downstream demand remained significant: orders in the home appliance market showed signs of accelerating weakness, with small and medium-sized producers reducing procurement volumes due to sluggish end-use consumption, and large enterprises also slowing down their production schedules due to inventory turnover pressure. The finished product inventories accumulated by most enterprises in the early stage have not yet been fully digested, and enterprises remain cautious about raw material procurement, refraining from stockpiling in large quantities. SMM samples showed that the days of raw material inventories decreased by 0.36 days MoM to 4.47 days this week, while the days of finished product inventories decreased by 0.19 days MoM to 6.73 days. Looking ahead to next week, as the end of June approaches, the traditional off-season characteristics of the industry will become more pronounced: on the one hand, new orders for enterprises are expected to continue to decline, with some small and medium-sized producers only able to maintain production for 1-2 weeks with their orders on hand; on the other hand, the tight raw material supply situation has not improved. SMM expects the operating rate to decline by 0.32 percentage points MoM to 51.69% next week, and the industry will still need to operate under the dual pressures of shrinking demand and high raw material costs in the short term.

This week, the operating rate of enamelled wire industry machinery decreased by 0.2 percentage points MoM to 82.1%, and weekly orders fell WoW ...

In terms of aluminum billet inventory, according to SMM statistics, the domestic aluminum billet inventory in major consumption areas stood at 127,500 mt on June 12, a decrease of 2,000 mt from Monday and a decline of 2,500 mt WoW, still hovering around 130,000 mt. In the past week, the regional distribution of aluminum billet inventory has shown divergence. In the Wuxi area, there was still an increase in warehouse arrivals, but poor market transactions exacerbated the local inventory buildup. In the Nanchang area, due to the persistently high Shanghai-Guangdong price spread, more billets were transported from the billet plants around South China to the Nanchang area, leading to an increase in local inventory, while arrivals in the Guangdong area were relatively low. In terms of outflows from warehouses, the total outflows from public warehouses of aluminum billets in China during the period from June 3 to June 8 amounted to 36,400 mt, a decrease of 1,200 mt from the previous period.

SMM News on June 10: At 9:00 a.m. on June 10, cast aluminum alloy futures were officially listed on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE). The benchmark listing prices for the AD2511, AD2512, AD2601, AD2602, AD2603, AD2604, and AD2605 contracts were set at 18,365 yuan/mt.

In early June, silver prices surged sharply amid multiple bullish factors, breaking out of the previous rangebound fluctuation pattern. On June 5, London spot silver soared 4.5% in a single day, breaching the $36/oz mark and reaching its highest level since February 2012. The cumulative weekly gain exceeded 9% (compared to just 0.6% for gold over the same period).

Market Movement - Silver Prices Surge to New Highs In early June, driven by multiple positive factors, silver prices rose sharply, breaking out of the previous rangebound fluctuation pattern. On June 5, London spot silver surged 4.5% in a single day, breaking through the $36/oz mark and reaching its highest level since February 2012, with a cumulative weekly gain exceeding 9% (compared to gold's 0.6% gain over the same period). Domestically, the most-traded SHFE silver contract reached a record high of 8,804 yuan/kg, while A-share silver concept stocks (such as Hunan Silver and Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co., Ltd.) all hit their daily limits. Currently, the gold-silver ratio stands at 85-90 (i.e., 1 oz of gold ≈ 90 oz of silver), significantly higher than the 40-50 average over the past 50 years. Some market traders believe that silver is severely undervalued relative to gold. Based on the historical pattern of the gold-silver ratio reverting to its mean after a crisis, the current silver price rally is poised to ignite. 1. Concentrated Macro Catalysts In terms of macro news, the steel and aluminum tariff issue and the Eurozone's interest rate cut jointly contributed to the significant rise in silver prices. On one hand, on June 3, Trump signed an executive order raising tariffs on imported steel from 25% to 50%, effective from June 4. The market feared that critical metals like silver could be the next target. Previously, on May 30, Trump had already expressed related expectations at a rally in Pennsylvania and posted about it on social media. On June 2, London spot silver prices broke through the oscillation range for the first time, reaching $34.774/oz. Due to the Dragon Boat Festival holiday in China, domestic spot silver TD prices opened higher with a gap at 8,500 yuan/mt after the holiday (on June 3). On the other hand, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its interest rate decision on the evening of June 5, cutting the three key interest rates by 25 basis points. This marked the eighth interest rate cut since June 2024. The current deposit facility rate was lowered from 4% to 2%. The Eurozone economy faces downside risks, and the ECB may increase monetary easing efforts in H2. These factors bolstered bullish confidence in the silver market, leading to a second high open and upward trend in silver prices. Additionally, factors such as the contraction in the US service sector, slowing employment, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and tensions in the Middle East have indirectly boosted the safe-haven demand for precious metals, though not enough to solely trigger a significant rally in silver prices. 2. Technical Momentum and Capital Enthusiasm Follow Technically, after breaking through the key technical resistance level of $34.8/oz, silver triggered program trading to rush to buy amid continuous price rise, with capital enthusiasm following suit. The next target level is projected to be $38-40/oz. As of June 9, silver ETF open interest increased from 13,900 mt on May 16 to 14,700 mt, a gain of nearly 6%, indicating strong market enthusiasm for silver. Hedge funds reduced their long positions in gold and shifted them to silver, further driving a significant rally in spot silver prices. 3. Industrial demand supports the destocking trend of silver bars Looking ahead, the supply-demand gap in the global silver market is expected to continue widening in 2025. Despite a slowdown in the growth of industrial demand, the supply of refined silver is constrained by mineral raw materials and recycling technology, and the total global inventory of silver bars will remain dominated by destocking. Previous tariff concerns led to a significant transfer of spot silver bars to the New York market, and currently, both London and domestic spot silver inventories are at their lowest levels in nearly three years. Trend Outlook In June, market sentiment is leaning towards the bullish side, and favourable macro front factors are expected to continue supporting silver prices to rise, with silver prices likely to remain in a state of upward fluctuation in the short term. Against the backdrop of easing crises and the gradual realization of interest rate cut expectations, the performance of the silver market is expected to outperform that of gold, and the gold-silver ratio may also experience a correction and recovery. However, following the rise in silver prices, downstream enterprises are generally adopting a wait-and-see attitude, only making small purchases on dips and actively negotiating prices, with spot premiums pulling back from highs. Meanwhile, it is necessary to remain vigilant against potential impacts such as an unexpectedly delayed interest rate cut by the US Fed, a contraction in profits and a decline in production in the PV end-use product sector. 》View SMM Precious Metals Spot Quotes