[SMM Tin Morning Brief: the most-traded SHFE tin contract opened slightly higher in the night session and then pulled back, while spot market trading was overall thin.]

According to The Information, TSMC's (TSM.N) capacity constraints are proving to be a boon for Intel (INTC.O). As the chip manufacturing giant grapples with massive demand for its chip production capacity, several major AI chip design firms, including Google (GOOG.O) and Nvidia (NVDA.O), are quietly turning to Intel as an alternative manufacturer. Nvidia is said to be evaluating Intel's advanced packaging and 18A process for future chips. In addition, the report states that Google recently placed an order with Intel to produce more than 3 million TPUs by 2028. On the news, Intel's (INTC.O) stock surged over 10% in pre-market trading.

[SMM Tin Morning Brief: The most-traded SHFE tin contract traded sideways around the 400,000 mark during the night session, with moderate trading sentiment in the spot market]

On June 8, SK Telecom and Nvidia announced that SK Telecom plans to build a gigawatt-level AI cloud infrastructure in South Korea based on the Nvidia DSX platform. The first AI factory is expected to begin operations in 2027, with an eye toward future expansion into broader regions of Asia. This AI cloud will be built on the Nvidia DSX full-stack reference architecture, supporting training, inference, and agent workloads, covering sovereign AI, physical AI, and enterprise AI application scenarios. SK Telecom will also join the Nvidia Cloud Partner Program. Meanwhile, Nvidia and SK Group announced plans to conduct joint research to explore next-generation AI factory architecture, focusing on full-stack innovation from chip to power grid, encompassing accelerated computing, storage technologies, and data center operations.

[SMM Tin Morning Brief: The most-traded SHFE tin contract maintains a downward trend in the night session, and the spot market has essentially come to a standstill]

May 31, 2026 Over the past two weeks, the price of gold has failed to recover further. Instead, its failure to break through the falling 50-day moving average increased downward pressure, causing gold to be pushed back down to $4,366 this morning—and thus to the 200-day moving average—amid the resurgent Iran crisis. Silver presents a similar picture; here, even lower price targets are in play. Overall, precious metals have been in a healthy but treacherous and confusing correction since the end of January, one that is likely not yet over. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East remains the dominant and highly unpredictable risk factor for commodity and financial markets . A sustainable solution does not appear to be in sight. Rather, physical oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remain well below pre-crisis levels. Europe’s reserves have so far cushioned the supply bottlenecks but are now nearing depletion. As long as the logistical bottlenecks remain unresolved, volatility will stay high. In addition, the vulnerability of financial markets is increasing. Short-term signs of peace can abruptly push oil prices down, while setbacks or military escalations drive them back up just as quickly—an environment in which precious metals are also suffering. On the macro side, however, the dilemma for risk assets is intensifying, particularly for the heavily overbought stock markets. The recent price increases caused by rising energy prices heighten the risk of accelerating inflation, meaning central banks could be forced to raise interest rates and tighten monetary policy. Whether the central banks can actually implement this at all, given the complex and fragile starting point, remains questionable, however. However, the mere expectation of higher real interest rates could put further pressure on the gold price, even if this interest rate trend ultimately fails to materialize. At the same time, rising energy prices are supporting the inflation outlook and, in the long term, the demand for inflation-protected assets . China continues to shift into gold Chinese holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds, as of May 25, 2026. © Bloomberg At the same time, China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries have fallen to their lowest level since 2008, while official gold reserves continue to rise. China is thus consistently shifting assets from dollars to gold. However, the decline in Treasury holdings is also, to some extent, a matter of accounting. A significant portion of China’s reserves was apparently held through custodians such as Belgium or transferred to the balance sheets of state-owned banks. Economically, the exposure to U.S. Treasury bonds thus remains, even if it no longer appears directly under China’s name in official statistics. The composition has therefore changed more significantly than the actual risk. What is changing, however, is the nature of sovereign risk management. Like other strategically minded nations, China is gradually reducing its vulnerability to assets carrying political counterparty risk. While U.S. Treasuries are liquid and deeply traded, they ultimately remain claims within a Western-dominated financial system. Under extreme conditions, they can be frozen or subject to sanctions. Gold, on the other hand, has no issuer, no counterparty risk, no digital barriers to access, and has been money for millennia. The Chinese are not seeking an abrupt exit from the Western financial system, but rather a reduction in dependence and greater freedom of action. Nevertheless, the price of gold has been in a correction since the end of January, which, in our view, is more than justified and, above all, healthy following the spectacular gains of the past three and a half years. Semiconductor Boom vs. Dot-Com Bubble, May 27, 2026. © The Great Martis The only real cause for concern is that stock markets have recently surged into parabolic price movements amid a very fragile, geopolitically strained environment. The AI rally has driven semiconductor stocks in particular into completely overvalued territory: The semiconductor sector is currently more overbought than it has been in twenty years. NVIDIA is trading at a trailing P/E ratio of around 33 and has posted a 44% gain in the last two months alone. Micron Technology has seen its share price rise by 1,450% over the past 14 months! Margin levels (i.e., speculative trading on credit) stand at approximately $1.3 trillion (5.2% of GDP), exceeding the peak levels of 2008 and the dot-com era. Should a reversal and correction occur here, precious metals are likely to be dragged down with them in a temporary liquidity crunch. That is why we would like to mention our worst-case scenario of $3,500 for the gold price once again at this point. Gold – Our price target “200-day line” was reached today Gold in US dollars, daily chart as of May 28, 2026. © GOLD.DE As suspected, the falling 50-day line ($4,628) has stopped the gold price twice on its way up over the past six weeks. In light of this difficult-to-overcome and psychologically burdensome barrier, a new, sharp downward wave began on May 12, which today reached our repeatedly mentioned price target in the form of the 200-day line ($4,392). This means that, in our view, the bulk of the correction potential for the gold price has been exhausted for now. We had consistently emphasized that the first support level at the 200-day moving average of $4,100 from March 23 did not constitute a sufficiently solid foundation. However, the problem is that the silver price has not yet reached its 200-day moving average (US$66.56) during the correction that has been underway since late January, and no real panic has yet been observed in the precious metals sector. Despite the already oversold conditions in the gold market, we would therefore not be surprised to see the correction continue down to the lower Bollinger Band on the weekly chart ($4,289). Overall, the price action reflects a typical spring correction. We already see buying opportunities again between $4,250 and $4,400. We initially expect a bottom to form in this range, which should then lay the foundation for a foreseeable recovery and the summer rally. Conclusion: Gold – Correction Continues, Buying Opportunities Ahead Gold and silver have been undergoing a healthy but not yet complete correction since late January: Gold failed twice at the falling 50-day moving average and has now fallen back to its 200-day moving average. Silver, on the other hand, still faces significantly more downside risk, as the 200-day moving average has not yet been tested at all. Although a test of the lower weekly Bollinger Bands around $4,280 on the gold market would therefore not be surprising, we already see attractive entry prices between $4,250 and $4,400. However, macroeconomic and geopolitical risks remain high and are increasing volatility in the short term: The Iran crisis and the ongoing bottlenecks through the Strait of Hormuz continue to weigh on commodity and energy markets and weaken Europe’s security of supply. In the long term, however, China’s shift from U.S. Treasuries to gold supports demand for precious metals. Only a broad-based sell-off in the heavily overbought stock markets—driven by high margin leverage and an overheated semiconductor/AI rally—could also put gold under significant short-term pressure in the event of a liquidity crunch; our worst-case scenario therefore remains $3,500. Source： https://goldinvest.de/en/gold-correction-continues-buying-opportunities-are-emerging

SMM June 1 News: Metals market: As of the midday close, most base metals on the domestic market fell, with SHFE copper edging up, while SHFE aluminum and SHFE lead dipped slightly. SHFE zinc fell 0.84%. SHFE tin rose 0.85%. SHFE nickel fell 0.79%. In addition, the most-traded foundry aluminum futures fell 0.17%, the most-traded alumina contract fell 0.35%. The most-traded lithium carbonate contract fell 0.26%. The most-traded silicon metal contract rose 1.75%. The most-traded polysilicon futures rose 1.19%. Ferrous metals mostly rose, with iron ore down 0.38%, rebar up 0.67%, hot-rolled coil up 0.59%, and stainless steel down 0.81%. Coking coal and coke: the most-traded coking coal contract rose 7.2%, and the most-traded coke contract rose 5.1%. Overseas base metals, as of 11:44, LME metals rose across the board. LME copper rose 0.56%. LME aluminum rose 0.2%. LME lead rose 0.22%. LME zinc rose 0.08%. LME tin rose 0.51%. LME nickel rose 0.34%. Precious metals, as of 11:44, COMEX gold fell 0.88%, and COMEX silver rose 0.16%. Domestic precious metals: the most-traded SHFE gold contract rose 0.78%, and the most-traded SHFE silver contract rose 0.13%. In addition, as of the midday close, the most-traded platinum futures rose 0.97%, and the most-traded palladium futures fell 0.72%. As of the midday close, the most-traded Europe containerized freight index contract rose 11.26%, closing at 3,884 points. As of 11:44 on June 1, midday futures quotes for selected contracts: Spot and fundamentals Copper: Today, Guangdong #1 copper cathode spot prices against the front-month contract: high-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 70 yuan/mt, down 40 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; standard-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 0 yuan/mt, down 40 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; SX-EW copper was quoted at a discount of 70 yuan/mt, down 40 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average price of Guangdong #1 copper cathode was 104,845 yuan/mt, down 170 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; the average price of SX-EW copper was 104,740 yuan/mt, down 170 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Spot market: Returning from the weekend, Guangdong inventory saw a significant increase... Macro front China: [The "Regulations of the State Council on Outbound Investment" was published and will take effect on July 1, 2026] It mentioned that investors conducting outbound investment activities shall not export or use goods, technologies, services, and related data prohibited from export by the state, or export or use goods, technologies, services, and related data restricted from export by the state without authorization; shall not transfer goods, technologies, services, and related data prohibited from export by the state to other countries (regions) through means such as cross-border dispatch of technical personnel, organizing personnel to work in other countries (regions), providing cross-border technical guidance, or arranging cross-border training, or transfer goods, technologies, services, and related data restricted from export by the state to other countries (regions) without authorization. [Shanghai Municipal Government General Office Released the Shanghai Service Industry Development 15th Five-Year Plan] The plan mentioned that by 2030, the service industry is expected to achieve notable progress in optimizing its structure, fostering momentum, and improving quality and efficiency, with continuous improvement in digitalization, standardization, integration, and internationalization. The added value of the service industry is expected to reach approximately 6 trillion yuan, basically forming a new high-quality and efficient service industry system led by high-level urban core service functions, anchored by high-end producer services, and supported by high-grade consumer services, building Shanghai's service industry into a "resilient foundation" for economic growth with higher capacity and a "dynamic hub" for global service resource allocation with stronger influence. (Source: Wallstreetcn) [PBOC Net Drained 247 Billion Yuan via Open Market Operations Today] The PBOC conducted 11 billion yuan of 7-day reverse repo operations in the open market at an interest rate of 1.40%, unchanged from the previous day. A total of 258 billion yuan in reverse repos matured today. US Dollar: As of 11:44, the US dollar index rose 0.13% to 99.08. According to an article by Nick Timiraos, known as the "Fed whisperer," in a speech on Sunday evening local time, former US Fed Chair Powell stated that if any administration found an excuse to remove Fed officials simply over policy disagreements, the Fed would not be able to survive. Powell currently serves as a Fed governor. While speaking broadly about institutions, the rule of law, and related topics, he did not name any president, nor did he express any specific personal grievances. However, when addressing the institutional framework designed to keep monetary policy decisions out of presidential control, his language was extremely precise. Powell emphasized the legal protections designed to prevent the arbitrary removal of Fed officials and specifically noted that the executive branch "plays no role in selecting or supervising the 12 regional Reserve Bank presidents," who vote on interest rate decisions alongside Fed governors. "If any administration found an excuse to remove Fed officials simply over policy disagreements, future administrations would inevitably follow suit," Powell said. He noted that the credibility the Fed had built over decades was a "priceless asset," and he and his colleagues "have a responsibility to defend it." (Source: Jin10 Data APP) A CITIC Securities research report noted that the current US Fed transition pace was relatively smooth, and within the next two years, among the seven members of the Federal Reserve Board, only JeromeGovernor Powell may see changes due to his term ending in 2028, while regional Fed presidents face no formal departure pressure before 2028. New Chair Warsh was sworn in on May 22 and his remarks did not release dovish signals. Overall, dovish forces within the US Fed have notably weakened, with neutral and neutral-to-hawkish stances in the majority on policy, though attention is still needed on US economic conditions, geopolitical conflict risks, and other factors. Data: Today's releases include the UK May Nationwide House Price Index MoM, Switzerland April real retail sales YoY, France May manufacturing PMI final, Germany May manufacturing PMI final, Eurozone May manufacturing PMI final, UK May manufacturing PMI final, Eurozone April unemployment rate, US May S&P Global manufacturing PMI final, US May ISM manufacturing PMI, and US April construction spending MoM. In addition, attention is needed on: the opening of NVIDIA GTC Taipei 2026, with Jensen Huang delivering a keynote speech. Crude oil: As of 11:44, oil prices in both markets rose, with WTI up 2.26% and Brent up 2%. Oil prices rebounded from six-week lows as the outlook for an Iran war and peace agreement remained unclear. The US and Iran exchanged messages over the weekend seeking to revise a draft agreement aimed at extending the ceasefire and opening the Strait of Hormuz, but whether substantive progress was made remains unclear. Previously, optimism that the two sides would reach some form of peace agreement and that energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz would resume had led to crude oil's first monthly decline this year. "Neither Iran nor the US will concede or compromise on their bottom lines for reaching a deal, some of which have not changed since before the war," said economist Gaoud. These bottom lines include the nuclear program, control of the Strait of Hormuz, the ballistic missile program, and sanctions. He also noted that oil prices may remain sensitive to local developments and statements from political leaders. (Jin10 Data) Spot market overview: ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ►

[Samsung Electronics Ships HBM4E Chip Samples to Global Clients] Samsung Electronics said on Friday that it had begun shipments of samples of its latest high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip, the 12-layer HBM4E, calling it the world's first shipments of such a product. As demand for advanced memory chips from AI servers and processors surges, Samsung's clients include major AI enterprises such as AMD, NVIDIA, and Google.

Futures: Overnight, the LME lead 3M contract held up well overall, with prices declining first before rising. During the Asian session, LME lead opened at $1,980/mt, briefly pulled back after a slight initial rally, then entered the European session and began to fluctuate upward. It accelerated in late trading, touching a high of $2,006.5/mt, and finally closed at $2,005/mt, posting a small bullish candlestick, up $27.5/mt or 1.39%. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE lead 2607 contract opened higher with a gap at 16,700 yuan/mt, briefly dipped to 16,670 yuan/mt in early trading, then strengthened in a fluctuating manner, touching a high of 16,745 yuan/mt. Gains narrowed slightly toward the end, finally closing at 16,740 yuan/mt, posting a small bullish candlestick, up 95 yuan/mt or 0.57%. On the macro front: Al Arabiya TV denied Iranian media reports citing it regarding a "US-Iran deal." Rubio: Establishing a strait toll station is completely unacceptable. Iran's Revolutionary Guards: 31 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours. Senior Iranian officials denied reports on keeping enriched uranium in the country. Foreign media reported: Turkey nearly cleared its US Treasury holdings to support its currency. BOE Technology Group A: As of now, the company has not yet conducted business cooperation with NVIDIA. Spot fundamentals: Yesterday and today, non-ferrous metals generally rose, and SHFE lead also rebounded strongly. Suppliers became more active in shipments, with primary lead from major producing areas quoted at premiums of 0-50 yuan/mt against SMM #1 lead average price on an ex-factory basis, with a few regions at premiums of 150-200 yuan/mt ex-factory. Meanwhile, secondary lead smelters saw improved shipment sentiment as lead prices stopped falling and rebounded, with some quotations shifting to discounts. Secondary refined lead from major producing areas was quoted at discounts of 25-0 yuan/mt against SMM #1 lead on an ex-factory basis, with a few maintaining premiums of 50 yuan/mt. Downstream enterprises generally shifted to a wait-and-see stance, especially after dip-buying in previous days, with most downstream enterprises focused on digesting inventories, and spot market transactions notably weakened. Inventory: On May 21, LME lead inventory remained flat at 286,475 mt; SMM five-region lead ingot social inventory was flat compared to the 18th. Lead price forecast for today: Looking at the market this week, some smelters in east China chose to hold back from selling and stockpile due to weak lead prices, while enterprises in other regions saw slight destocking in finished product inventories WoW. Dragged by inventory buildup in east China, overall industry inventory edged up. Lead ingot social inventory gradually pulled back after delivery ended, but the destocking pace remained slow. As some smelters resumed production, China's secondary lead production rose slightly MoM, which to some extent suppressed upside room for lead prices. On the sentiment side, concentrated short-covering yesterday drove a lead price rebound, and lead prices are expected to maintain a fluctuating trend in the short term.

[SMM Zinc Morning Meeting Minutes: New Obstacles in US-Iran Negotiations, LME Zinc Retreated from Highs]: Overnight, LME zinc opened at $3,563/mt. After the opening, LME zinc fluctuated downward throughout the session, touching a high of $3,575.5/mt early in the session, probing a low of $3,505/mt near the end of the session, and finally closing lower at $3,542.5/mt, down $25/mt, a decline of 0.7%, with trading volume rising to 10,336 lots...