[Geopolitical Disruptions Combined with Elevated Inventory Highlight LME Outperforming SHFE in Aluminum Market] Overall, the core pattern of LME outperforming SHFE in the aluminum market is difficult to reverse in the short term. LME strength will support room for SHFE aluminum to catch up after the holiday, but high domestic inventory and weak demand will cap overall gains. Going forward, the focus will be on the pace of aluminum ingot destocking in China and the strength of rigid demand release from downstream resumption of work and production resumptions.

Global Aluminum Market Review – April: Divergent Domestic & Overseas Trends and Marked Spot Structure Disparities The global aluminum market in April featured a core pattern of strength overseas and weakness domestically with diverging trends. The main Shanghai aluminum contract retreated from highs amid fluctuations, while LME aluminum maintained firm momentum supported by low inventories and geopolitical factors, with both markets seeing mild corrections toward month-end. Market drivers this month centered on macro policies, geopolitical conflicts, supply-demand fundamentals and inventory structures, with movements of key indicators further highlighting supply-demand imbalances between domestic and overseas aluminum markets. I. April Aluminum Price Review: Linked Movements with Distinct Strength Differentials Shanghai aluminum and LME aluminum shared similar price rhythms in April, both fluctuating higher initially before retreating. However, notable gaps emerged in upward momentum and correction ranges, with overseas aluminum prices significantly outperforming domestic counterparts. The average Shanghai-LME aluminum ratio dropped from 7.36 in March to 7.03 in April, reflecting stronger overseas aluminum pricing relative to Shanghai aluminum. The main Shanghai aluminum contract trended upward early in the month before softening overall, declining from elevated levels through range-bound trading. It opened lower at RMB 24,715 per ton at the start of the month and consolidated. Driven by escalating Middle East geopolitical tensions and rising LME aluminum prices, it surged to a monthly peak of RMB 25,675 per ton in mid-April. In late April, amid continuous domestic inventory accumulation, weaker-than-expected downstream demand, and risk-averse capital outflows ahead of the May Day holiday, prices corrected steadily. Closing at RMB 24,430 per ton on April 30, the contract recorded a monthly trading range of nearly RMB 1,360 per ton. LME March aluminum traded firmly with mild late-month declines. Opening at USD 3,459 per ton, it climbed to a monthly high of USD 3,672 per ton in mid-April, underpinned by overseas supply disruptions from geopolitical frictions and sustained inventory destocking. Prices edged down later due to fluctuating US-Iran negotiations, hawkish macro sentiment and profit-taking at high levels, settling at USD 3,476 per ton at month-end with a slight monthly loss. Overall, LME aluminum vastly outperformed domestic Shanghai aluminum. In terms of price drivers, geopolitics served as a shared upward catalyst for global aluminum prices, with production cuts and supply disruptions in the Middle East continuously boosting market risk aversion. Price divergence stemmed from dual disparities in macro policies and fundamentals: elevated domestic inventories and sluggish demand consistently capped aluminum price rebounds, while tight overseas inventories and strained spot supplies provided robust support for LME aluminum. II. Key Inventory Indicators: Divergent Inventory Movements and Contrasting Supply-Demand Landscapes As a core gauge of aluminum market supply and demand, domestic and overseas inventory trends diverged sharply in April, directly shaping the relative strength of regional aluminum prices. Domestic aluminum inventories kept rising and stood at a multi-year seasonal high. Social inventories maintained an upward trend throughout April, hitting 1.465 million tons in mid-month, the highest seasonal level in five years. A clear imbalance emerged between rigid supply release and lackluster downstream demand during the traditional peak "Silver April" period, leading to persistent spot market loosening. SHFE warehouse stocks expanded from 420,000 tons at the start of the month to 450,000 tons at month-end. Elevated warehouse stock levels further confirmed ample domestic spot supply, weighing continuously on aluminum prices. Overseas LME aluminum inventories declined steadily to a 20-year low. Total LME aluminum inventories fell from 410,000 tons to 370,000 tons in April, extending months of destocking to historic lows. Noticeable structural divergence persisted in inventory composition: Russian aluminum accounted for approximately 92% of total LME stocks in March, resulting in low market-circulating inventories and increasingly tight physical spot supply, which acted as the fundamental pillar for strong LME aluminum prices. In summary, April’s global aluminum market was governed by contrasting core dynamics: low overseas inventories, geopolitical disruptions and hawkish Federal Reserve policies on the overseas front, versus high domestic inventories, weak real demand and stable growth expectations domestically. This drove pronounced market divergence. Affected by intertwined internal and external factors, the main Shanghai aluminum contract corrected downwards from highs, while LME aluminum remained in a firm trading range, backed by historically low inventories, a tight spot balance and geopolitical risk premiums.

SMM April 30: This week, aluminum fluoride enterprises mainly focused on fulfilling existing orders. As month-end approached, the market awaited new price guidance, trading atmosphere was sluggish, and prices remained stable. As of now, SMM aluminum fluoride prices closed at 10,980-11,900 yuan/mt; cryolite prices remained stable, with SMM cryolite quoted at 7,000-8,500 yuan/mt. Raw material side: Prices of core raw materials for aluminum fluoride diverged, but overall cost support remained relatively firm. This week, China's 97% fluorite powder delivery-to-factory prices weakened slightly, with mainstream transaction range at 3,300-3,500 yuan/mt and significant regional price spreads. Influenced by the steady recovery of operating rates in northern producing areas and continuous supplementation from Mongolian imports, the fluorite market's overall supply trended looser, with high-priced sources clearly under pressure in transactions. Demand side, some traders' bearish sentiment intensified, actively cutting prices to facilitate shipments and recover funds; coupled with the approaching holiday, wait-and-see atmosphere in the market was strong, in-market quotations became cautious, new orders lacked follow-through, and the focus was on digesting earlier orders. However, the significant rise in downstream hydrofluoric acid prices boosted fluorite producers' willingness to hold prices firm to some extent. Delayed resumption of operations at Zhejiang mine areas due to safety incidents and periodically low inventory also provided localized support, offsetting some downward pressure, but this was insufficient to counteract the bearish pressure from loose supply and sluggish trading, and fluorite prices overall showed small fluctuations with a weak bias. Aluminum hydroxide prices were under pressure, with the current SMM weighted average price at 1,660 yuan/mt, down 0.42% WoW. The sulphuric acid market was affected by Middle East geopolitical disruptions, with raw material sulphur circulation tight, coupled with firm downstream demand, sulphuric acid prices hovered at highs, and the market performed strongly. Overall, prices of core raw materials for aluminum fluoride diverged, the overall cost center fluctuated at highs, and production pressure on enterprises remained difficult to alleviate. The supply side exhibited a negative cycle of rigid cost increases—deeply pressured profitability—low willingness to operate. Recently, overall raw material costs for aluminum fluoride remained elevated, the industry fell into deep losses with cost inversion, enterprise production enthusiasm was significantly dampened, and the industry's overall operating rate dropped to a low of around 40%. Demand side, downstream operating aluminum capacity remained stable at highs, forming rigid floor demand for aluminum fluoride. Brief comment: This week, the aluminum fluoride market operated steadily overall, with prices maintaining the level after mid-month raises. Raw material side, fluorite and aluminum hydroxide prices weakened slightly, sulphuric acid prices fluctuated at highs, and comprehensive raw material costs remained elevated, continuously exerting significant operational pressure on producers. The supply side remained suppressed by high costs, with industry operating rates staying low and overall output unlikely to see significant increases; the demand side, although rigid demand from aluminum provided some support, downstream enterprises had limited ability to absorb costs, aluminum fluoride price increases faced resistance in passing through to downstream, elevated comprehensive production costs were difficult to effectively transfer, and most enterprises in the industry remained in losses. Currently, sulphuric acid prices remained on the strong side, cost pass-through to downstream still showed obvious lag, and industry profit recovery remained challenging. The current weak pattern of high costs, low profits, and low operating rates in the aluminum fluoride industry continued, the tug-of-war between sellers and buyers intensified, and under strong support from high raw material costs, producers showed clear willingness to raise ex-factory prices. Aluminum fluoride prices are expected to show a broad upward adjustment next month.

Today, the most-traded BC copper contract 2605 opened at 91,330 yuan/mt, fluctuated upward to probe 91,860 yuan/mt in early trading, then the copper price center gradually shifted downward to touch 90,650 yuan/mt after the daytime session opened, followed by wild swings, and finally closed at 90,860 yuan/mt, down 0.65%. Open interest stood at 4,313 lots, down 1,377 lots from the previous trading day, with trading volume at 5,290 lots, indicating bulls reducing positions. Macro perspective, US-Iran negotiations reached a deadlock and regional confrontation intensified, with Middle East geopolitical disruptions continuing to escalate; meanwhile, the US dollar index strengthened, exerting notable downward pressure on copper prices. However, Iran's exemption of Strait of Hormuz transit fees for friendly nations such as Russia eased market risk-averse sentiment to some extent. Demand side, copper prices fluctuated at high levels, and downstream enterprises adopted a cautious purchasing stance, mainly restocking on rigid demand with weak stockpiling willingness. Inventory side, as of Thursday, April 23, SMM copper inventories in mainstream regions nationwide decreased by 4,300 mt WoW from Thursday to 258,900 mt, with total inventory up 77,200 mt compared to the same period last year at 181,700 mt. SHFE copper 2606 contract closed at 102,460 yuan/mt. Based on the BC copper 2605 contract at 90,860 yuan/mt, its after-tax price was 102,671 yuan/mt, and the price spread between SHFE copper 2606 contract and BC copper was -211, with the inverted spread maintained and widened from the previous day.

[Inventory Trends Diverge Significantly in and outside China; Aluminum Prices Continue LME-Outperforms-SHFE Pattern] Negotiations in the Middle East experienced repeated twists and turns, and geopolitical risks had not yet fully been cleared. However, the widening supply gap outside China and the steady drawdown of LME inventory jointly supported LME aluminum prices in holding up well. In China, social inventory of aluminum ingots remained at elevated levels, with the strength of demand recovery and the pace of inventory drawdown becoming the core variables influencing SHFE price trends.

China Northern Rare Earth disclosed its 2025 annual report on April 18, which stated: 2025 was a pivotal year for the reshaping of the global rare earth industry landscape, a pivotal year for the strategic elevation of China's rare earth industry, and a pivotal year for the company to achieve historic breakthroughs in its business development. Over the past year, the company implemented national industrial policies and enhanced its capacity to serve national strategies. Production of major products hit record highs , with operating revenue reaching 42.563 billion yuan, up 29.11% YoY; net profit attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm reaching 2.251 billion yuan, up 124.17% YoY. The company maintained its industry-leading position in revenue, profit, output value, and market capitalization, successfully concluding the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. It effectively safeguarded the security and stability of China's rare earth industry chain and supply chain, and elevated China's rare earth industry to a new level of high-quality development. The explanation of operating revenue changes disclosed in China Northern Rare Earth's announcement stated: In 2025, amid an overall rise in rare earth market prices, the company seized market opportunities and coordinated the advancement of the "Five Unifications" scientific production model. Production and sales of major products, including smelting and separation products, rare earth metals, rare earth new materials, and rare earth permanent magnet motors, all achieved YoY growth. The main business disclosed in China Northern Rare Earth's 2025 annual report stated: Adhering to the development philosophy of "optimizing and expanding rare earth raw materials, refining and strengthening rare earth new materials, and specializing and differentiating end-use application products," the company is capable of producing 11 major categories, over 100 varieties, and more than 1,000 specifications of rare earth products. The company's products are mainly divided into rare earth raw material products, rare earth new material products, and rare earth end-use application products. Among them, the company's rare earth raw material products include rare earth salts, rare earth oxides, and rare earth metals, which serve as the primary raw materials for downstream rare earth new material and new material product processing enterprises. Rare earth new material products include rare earth magnetic materials, polishing materials, hydrogen storage materials, catalytic materials, and rare earth alloys. The company's rare earth end-use application products mainly include rare earth permanent magnet high-efficiency energy-saving motors, solid-state hydrogen storage cylinders, and hydrogen-powered two-wheelers. Regarding the business plan for 2026, China Northern Rare Earth stated in its 2025 annual report: 2026 is the opening year of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period and a critical year for the company to advance high-quality development and accelerate its transformation into a world-class leading rare earth enterprise. The company will adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, take forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation as the main theme, fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and its successive plenary sessions, implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches and instructions on Inner Mongolia and the rare earth industry, as well as the decisions and deployments of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Baotou Municipality, and other higher-level authorities. The company will maintain the general principle of seeking progress while ensuring stability, fully and accurately implement the new development philosophy, shoulder its responsibilities and mission, steadily improve operational quality and efficiency, build a comprehensive all-element and all-category industrial system, promote the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, accelerate the pace of deepening reform, enhance the level of modern governance, continuously strengthen core functions and enhance core competitiveness, accelerate the building of a world-class leading rare earth enterprise, achieve a good start for the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, and make new and greater contributions to the construction of the "two rare earth bases." Key production and operating targets for 2026 (these targets are planning targets only; whether they can ultimately be achieved is subject to uncertainty and do not constitute substantive commitments by the Company to investors; investors and relevant parties should maintain sufficient risk awareness and understand the differences between plans, forecasts, and commitments): achieve operating revenue of over 44 billion yuan and total profit of over 3.5 billion yuan. On the premise of meeting operating targets, ensure that employee income moves in tandem with the enterprise's economic performance and labor productivity. Centering on the work targets, the following key initiatives will be carried out: 1. Stabilize production, promote sales, and improve quality and efficiency, demonstrating a new outlook of a strong start. Based on the national rare earth total volume control indicators, organize and arrange production schedules scientifically. Make every effort to ensure stable and high output from Phase I of the green smelting upgrade and renovation project. Enhance the capability of full-element rare earth extraction and separation. Optimize rare earth metal production processes to improve product quality and capacity scale. Release newly added magnetic material alloy capacity, with per-mt product costs reaching industry-leading levels. The polishing segment will leverage resource and capacity advantages, implement transformation toward high-end and precision products, and enhance product competitiveness. Rare earth additives will focus on high value-added product development to ensure stable product supply. Monitor mainstream product price trends and maintain market stability. Achieve production-sales balance for rare earth lanthanum-cerium products while actively digesting inventories. Strengthen procurement and sales channel development for rare earth Pr-Nd products to enhance market control. The functional materials segment will seize policy and market opportunities to secure orders. Rare earth permanent magnet motors will target frontier fields to achieve new breakthroughs in sales. Refine cost management and implement comprehensive measures to deepen cost reduction, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement. Optimize financing methods to provide low-cost funding support for the Company's development. 2. Optimize layout and add momentum, shaping new advantages in industrial development. Efficiently advance the construction of key projects and accelerate the construction of Phase II of the green smelting upgrade and renovation project. Promote the Northern Jinlong separation production line to achieve trial production within the year. Promote stable and smooth production at the Jinmeng rare earth secondary resource project. Build a full-category industrial system and accelerate the implementation of joint venture and cooperation projects. Promote stable production and full production at the Northern Magnetic Material digital green technology empowerment project, and expand segmented application fields of rare earth permanent magnet materials. Strengthen the promotion and application of solid-state hydrogen storage materials and expand new applications in the rare earth catalysis field. Enhance the level of digital and intelligent management, deepen the construction of information management and control systems, continue to advance the in-depth application of business systems such as human resources, discipline inspection, and engineering projects, and further consolidate the digital form of business operations. Build a procurement-sales collaborative management platform to form a closed-loop business process covering "procurement, production, inventory, sales, and finance," achieving business-finance integration. Advance the construction of green smelting smart factories, progressively cultivate major production units to build smart factories, and continuously improve the CNC rate of key processes and the digitalization rate of production equipment. 3. Coordinating internal and external efforts to tackle key challenges, empowering innovation to seek new breakthroughs. Increase high-quality scientific and technological supply and strengthen R&D investment intensity. Focus on project deployment and research breakthroughs in areas such as cost reduction in smelting and separation, quality improvement in metal electrolysis, development of new rare earth materials, and expansion of new rare earth applications, developing new products, new processes, and new equipment. Conduct high-value patent cultivation and standards development and revision in key areas across the entire industry chain. Improve the "1+2+N+4" rare earth industry technology innovation platform system, launch high-level rare earth innovation platform projects, and comprehensively optimize and integrate technology innovation resources. Further leverage the role of the industrial transformation center, streamline the pathway for commercializing research outcomes, and enhance the quality and efficiency of technology transfer. Deepen the integration of industry, academia, and research, and promote the establishment of joint laboratories with renowned universities in China. Carry out "Three Firsts" application work in areas such as NdFeB alloy production equipment, rare earth permanent magnet motors, rare earth polishing fluids, and rare earth functional additives, and achieve substantive results. Further leverage the functions of the company's collaborative innovation centers across various industrial sectors, strengthen resource coordination and centralized management, and implement organized research. Focus on tackling key common technologies, promote close interaction and coordinated development among subsidiaries, and drive the output and transfer incubation of major scientific and technological achievements. Introduce the technology readiness level evaluation system into the entire R&D management process to establish quantitative assessment channels. Continue to strengthen the recruitment and cultivation of scientific and technological talent, providing full support in terms of compensation, research funding, and living benefits. 4. Deepening and substantiating reforms to stimulate new vitality in enterprise development. Enhance the company's management and control effectiveness, improve the board of directors' construction and authorization system, explore the formulation of management systems for the performance of duties by full-time and part-time chairpersons, and elevate the board's standardized performance and scientific decision-making capabilities. Optimize the company's management and control matters, processes, and authorities to improve decision-making efficiency. Promote the optimization and integration of subsidiaries. Implement the requirements of the "doubling" initiative for specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative enterprises, and cultivate additional such enterprises. Deepen the reform of the three systems, improve the cadre assessment and evaluation system, and strengthen the rigid implementation of assessment results. Optimize the selection and appointment mechanism, intensify competitive recruitment and market-oriented hiring, implement "3+6" contract-based management, and firmly establish a talent selection orientation that prioritizes actual performance and practical contributions. Closely align with the company's development and actual business needs, scientifically evaluate organizational structures, reasonably reduce management layers, and enhance management effectiveness. Leverage new projects and production lines to establish shared employment mechanisms, promoting dynamic position integration and workforce optimization. Deepen the reform of the compensation distribution system, build a "same-level, broad-grade" compensation system based on position value and performance contributions, strengthen the linkage between subsidiary performance and the company's overall profitability, and drive a close connection between employee income and enterprise profitability as well as individual contributions. 5. Striving for Excellence in Management to Elevate Modern Governance to New Heights. Strengthened strategic security management, enhanced information resource integration, and actively participated in the formulation of national industrial policies. Strengthened financial management by rigorously implementing comprehensive budget management, further reinforcing capital control, and establishing a capital risk prevention and control system. Enhanced financial informatization by building a standardized, efficient, and well-adapted financial shared services system. Strengthened risk and compliance management by improving the compliance management system to ensure that business development and compliance management advanced in tandem. Established a legal affairs shared system to reduce legal service costs for subsidiaries and strengthen the company's overall legal risk prevention and control capabilities. Improved the comprehensive risk management system and optimized risk management across the entire process of strategy, operations, and management. Strengthened safety and environmental protection management, guided by the "10000" safety vision, to enhance intrinsic safety levels. Effectively carried out safety management of relevant parties. Rigorously implemented environmental protection accountability, improved integrated traceability management of solid waste across production, sales, transportation, and utilization, and enhanced emergency response capabilities. Strengthened talent management by reinforcing training and empowerment, implementing targeted training by level and category, and improving the competency of key personnel. Deepened specialized cultivation of high-level talent and strengthened the deep integration of talent development with the company's strategic growth. Innovated the training model for industrial workers, built a platform for skills inheritance and innovation, simultaneously consolidated talent reserves, optimized talent structure, and enhanced talent effectiveness. Strengthened market capitalization management by establishing a scientific market capitalization management philosophy, improving the ESG management system, and comprehensively leveraging measures such as information disclosure, investor relations management, cash dividends, mergers and acquisitions, and ESG on the basis of enhancing the company's value creation capabilities, to improve market capitalization management performance and maintain the company's position as the largest by market capitalization in the rare earth industry. When discussing potential risks, China Northern Rare Earth mentioned product price risk: Affected by internal and external factors such as macro economic conditions, cyclical industry fluctuations, changes in rare earth market supply and demand, intensified market competition, and geopolitical disruptions, prices of major rare earth products may fluctuate and decline, posing product price risk. Countermeasures: The company will closely monitor market conditions, strengthen market forecasting and analysis, innovate marketing models, adjust marketing strategies, improve product quality, vigorously expand markets, and increase product market share. While maintaining and expanding the marketing base for Pr-Nd products, the company will intensify marketing efforts for La-Ce products, optimize service quality, and improve client satisfaction. Leveraging the role of a major rare earth group, the company will stabilize confidence, stabilize expectations, and stabilize market operations, adopting comprehensive measures to overcome unfavourable factors and striving to mitigate the impact of product price risk on the company's operating performance. Looking back at the SMM Pr-Nd oxide price trend in 2025: the average price of Pr-Nd oxide on December 31, 2025 was 606,500 yuan/mt, compared with the average price of 398,000 yuan/mt on December 31, 2024, representing an increase of 52.39% in 2025. In comparison, the annual daily average price of Pr-Nd oxide in 2025 was 491,576.13 yuan/mt versus 391,871.9 yuan/mt in 2024, indicating a YoY increase of 25.45% in the daily average price in 2025. Driven by expectations of supply reduction due to partial shutdowns at separation plants, upstream suppliers raised their quotes rapidly, low-priced spot cargo in the market tightened quickly, pushing rare earth prices up for three consecutive days. According to SMM pricing, on April 20, the price of Pr-Nd oxide was 815,000-818,000 yuan/mt, with an average price of 816,500 yuan/mt, up 1.74% from the previous trading day. As the price of Pr-Nd oxide rose, wait-and-see sentiment in the market intensified, while downstream magnetic material enterprises had limited acceptance of high-priced metals, and purchasing enthusiasm declined. In the short term, supported by strong confidence among upstream suppliers to hold prices firm, Pr-Nd product prices are expected to hover at highs. For more information on rare earth fundamentals, technical aspects, and policy developments, please attend the ~ SMM Rare Earth Forum Contact: Wang Haiqiao Contact: 19818727891

Today, the most-traded BC copper contract 2606 opened at 91,360 yuan/mt, touching a low of 90,580 yuan/mt at the start of the session before fluctuating upward. During the day session, it opened higher with a gap, reaching a high of 92,080 yuan/mt, then quickly pulled back and swung wildly, ultimately closing at 91,220 yuan/mt, up 0.45%. Open interest stood at 6,534 lots, down 258 lots from the previous trading day, with trading volume at 6,586 lots, indicating bears reducing positions. On the macro front, Iran's foreign minister announced that commercial vessels could transit the Strait of Hormuz normally, easing market risk-aversion sentiment somewhat. However, the optimistic expectations released by Trump regarding a second round of US-Iran negotiations were refuted by the Iranian side. Bullish and bearish sentiment fluctuated repeatedly, and the market remained cautious overall, with copper prices moving sideways. On the fundamentals front, supply side, imported copper arrivals increased, while domestic supply remained tight due to smelter maintenance. Demand side, with copper prices fluctuating at highs, downstream buyers mainly made just-in-time procurement. Regarding inventories, as of Monday, April 20, SMM copper inventories in major regions nationwide decreased 12.21% WoW from the previous Monday. SHFE copper 2606 contract closed at 102,620 yuan/mt. Based on the BC copper 2605 contract at 91,220 yuan/mt, its after-tax price was 103,078 yuan/mt. The price spread between SHFE copper 2606 and BC copper was -458, remaining inverted but narrowing compared to the previous day.

Ivanhoe Mines is capitalizing on strong sulphuric acid demand in the DRC, where supply shortages linked to geopolitical disruptions have pushed prices higher, turning a copper byproduct into a key profit driver.

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

Today, the most-traded BC copper contract 2605 opened at 87,270 yuan/mt, initially experiencing wild swings to touch a high of 87,360 yuan/mt before maintaining wide fluctuations. After the daytime session opened, copper prices opened lower with a gap, dipping to 86,320 yuan/mt, then fluctuated upward to finally close at 86,670 yuan/mt, up 0.67%. Open interest stood at 6,377 lots, an increase of 71 lots from the previous trading day, with trading volume at 2,981 lots, indicating bullish position building. On the macro front, the temporary ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran and the US dollar index touching a one-month low provided a phased boost to copper prices. However, the current agreement had limited binding force — of the 10 ceasefire terms proposed by Iran, 3 had already been violated, and an Iranian spokesperson also stated that Iran was prepared for a prolonged conflict. Uncertainty persisted over shipping conditions in the Strait of Hormuz, with risk-averse sentiment continuing to disturb futures. Fundamentals side, supply side, imported copper arrivals continued, while domestic supply saw reduced arrivals due to maintenance. Demand side, copper prices mainly fluctuated, and downstream buyers only made just-in-time procurement. Inventory side, as of Thursday, April 9, SMM copper inventories in major regions nationwide declined 13.06% WoW from the previous Thursday. SHFE copper 2605 contract closed at 97,810 yuan/mt. Based on the BC copper 2605 contract at 86,670 yuan/mt, its after-tax price was 97,937 yuan/mt. The price spread between SHFE copper 2605 and BC copper was -127, remaining inverted but narrowing from the previous day.