Futures: Overnight, LME lead opened low at $1,974.5/mt, fluctuated upward during the Asian session; climbed to a high of $1,996/mt during the European session, and finally closed at $1,994.5/mt, up 0.86%. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE lead 2603 contract opened at 16,800 yuan/mt, touched a high of 16,805 yuan/mt early in the session, then weakened and probed lower to 16,700 yuan/mt due to the dual decline in fundamental supply and demand, finally closing at 16,725 yuan/mt, down 0.09%. On the macro front: US January seasonally adjusted non-farm payrolls increased by 130,000, significantly exceeding market expectations and marking the largest increase since April 2025; the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 4.3%, hitting a new low since August 2025; following the non-farm data release, traders lowered expectations for US Fed interest rate cuts. The Central Bank of Kenya joined African gold accumulation efforts, planning gold purchases to strengthen buffer capacity. Indonesia plans to cut production at the world's largest nickel mine by 70%. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council is promoting central state-owned enterprises to actively expand effective investment in computing power. Ministry of Commerce: The prize pool for the lottery invoice event during the 9-day Chinese New Year holiday will exceed 1 billion yuan. : The Chinese New Year atmosphere is strong in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai market, most suppliers have suspended quotations, only a few can offer primary lead cargoes self-picked up from production site, but currently vehicles are scarce, except for a very few ultra-short distances that can barely manage delivery, the vast majority of lead ingots require pick-up after the holiday. Secondary lead spot order prices are sporadic, enterprise transaction willingness is weak, most enterprises have entered the holiday and suspended shipments and quotations. Simultaneously, most downstream enterprises have entered the holiday break, the final batch of lead-acid battery enterprises will also start their holiday this Saturday, downstream inquiries are minimal, and trading in the spot market is light on both sides. Inventory: On February 11, LME lead inventory increased by 200 mt to 232,950 mt. As of February 9, the SMM lead ingot five-region social inventory increased to a five-month high. Today's Lead Price Forecast: Approaching the Chinese New Year holiday, spot quotations continue to decrease, downstream battery enterprises have largely entered the holiday, and lead ingot purchase willingness is sluggish. Supply and demand both decline in the spot market, individual producers offer pre-sale post-holiday pick-up prices, spot order transactions are thin. Downstream battery producers are expected to resume production by late February to early March; post-holiday focus will be on lead ingot inventory buildup and the impact of secondary lead national standard delivery matters on lead price sentiment. Data Source Statement: Data other than public information is processed by SMM based on public information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model, for reference only and does not constitute decision-making advice.

On February 11, the SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index price was 31,628 yuan/mt, with the quotation range for battery-grade nickel sulphate at 31,400-32,500 yuan/mt, and the average price remained unchanged from the previous day.

[6.18 Morning Meeting Minutes] Recently, the premium for saprolite ore in Indonesia's nickel ore market remained high, and the cost line of nickel ore for smelters remained firm. Additionally, the drive to switch production to high-grade nickel matte was not met. Currently, the main product of RKEF capacity is still high-grade NPI, and overall production may increase MoM from last month. Demand side, the proportion of long-term agreements for raw materials among major stainless steel mills is relatively high, and there has been a considerable trading volume of spot orders on the eve of this month. Currently, the demand for external purchases is weak.

[6.17 Morning Meeting Minutes] LME nickel prices declined slightly this week. Demand side, despite signs of recovery in nickel salt demand MoM in June, the overall demand remained in a sluggish phase. Affected by the presence of some raw material inventory and weak order demand, the inquiry and transaction activity of precursor companies for nickel salt were low during the traditional procurement period this week.

[Morning Meeting Minutes on June 16] Last week, nickel ore prices in the Philippines remained stable. The CIF prices of Philippine laterite nickel ore (NI1.3%) from the Philippines to China were $44-45/wmt, and the FOB prices were $34-36/wmt. The CIF prices of laterite nickel ore (NI1.5%) were $59-60/wmt, and the FOB prices were $49-51/wmt. In terms of supply and demand, in terms of supply, although there was precipitation at major nickel ore loading points in the Philippines, the continuous rainfall during the week significantly impacted the loading progress of nickel mines, and the loading progress was generally delayed compared to expectations.

Drilling analysis at the Oval target area of the Yambat project in southwestern Mongolia, undertaken by Asian Battery Metals (ABM), has been completed. The main ore intersections are as follows: An intersection of 88.5m at 79m depth, with a copper grade of 0.62%, nickel grade of 0.45%, platinum group metals (PGM) of 0.22 g/t, and cobalt grade of 0.02%. Among them, an intersection of 16.1m at 92m depth, with a copper grade of 1.39%; and an intersection of 0.4m at 108m depth, with a copper grade of 4.74%. Another drillhole in the north intersected 34m of ore at 59m depth, with a copper grade of 0.41% and a nickel grade of 0.47%, including a 1.3m thick ore body with a copper grade of 4.7% and a nickel grade of 4.7%. A drillhole designed to verify a moderate-intensity in-hole conductive anomaly encountered a high-sulphide ore body at a depth greater than the base of the Oval intrusion, intersecting 5.6m of ore at 290m depth, with a copper grade of 0.7% and a nickel grade of 0.45%, including 0.5m of mineralization with a copper grade of 1.39% and a nickel grade of 1.19%. A ground-based electromagnetic survey will be used to guide subsequent drilling and verify deep ore-feeding structures. Since September last year, sulphides have been encountered in seven drillholes. The Oval copper-nickel mine is located in Govi-Altai Province, 25km west of the provincial capital, Altai City.

Philippine nickel ore prices remain high, forcing domestic enterprises to choose between purchasing at high prices or cutting production. Indonesian limonite ore prices strengthen again.

On June 4, Meidy Katrin Lengkey, Secretary General of the Indonesia Nickel Miners Association (APNI), stated that APNI had proposed the establishment of an Indonesian metal exchange, which had already received approval from the Indonesian government.

[6.13 Morning Meeting Summary] Despite the widespread losses faced by enterprises, with some steel mills having implemented production cuts, the current supply remains at historically high levels due to the large production base in the early stage, and the contradiction of oversupply in the market is prominent. Stainless steel mills and agents are facing a sharp increase in shipping pressure, with market pessimism spreading. Traders are scrambling to ship goods, driving stainless steel quotes to continuously decline.

[Minutes of Morning Meeting on June 12] Affected by the inventory of some raw materials and weak order demand, during the traditional procurement period this week, the inquiry and transaction activity of precursor enterprises for nickel salts were low. Supply side, the order signing situation for nickel salt producers in June was poor this week, and some large nickel salt enterprises planned to carry out shutdown maintenance work in June. Given the weak demand coupled with falling costs, some nickel salt producers have shown signs of loosening their quotes.