SMM, August 13: Today, offers from upstream smelters in the secondary refined lead market actively followed the upturn, suggesting that online prices be raised by 75-100 yuan/mt. Some cargoes were shipped ex-works at parity or a slight premium to the SMM #1 lead average price, while mainstream transaction prices were at a discount of 75-50 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price. Actual downstream purchasing showed limited follow-through and consisted mainly of small restocking as needed. In the short term, smelters have a strong willingness to hold prices firm, but downstream acceptance is limited, and the market will remain in a deadlock. Today, the SMM secondary refined lead average price was reported at 15,725 yuan/mt, a discount of 50 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price. Supplier shipment sentiment stood at 1.59, and secondary refined lead purchase sentiment stood at 0.94 today (historical data can be queried by logging in to the database).

[Ningbo Zinc: Overall Transactions Showed No Improvement, Some Suppliers Lowered Premium Quotes] Transaction prices for mainstream-brand #0 zinc in Ningbo were around 25,575~25,770 yuan/mt. Ningbo conventional brands were quoted at a premium of 0 yuan/mt against the 2609 contract, and at a premium of 50 yuan/mt against Shanghai spot cargo. Mainstream brands in Ningbo were quoted against the 2609 contract...

SMM learned from intermediary feedback that a Ningbo data center had 45 units of spot 4090 8-card server resources, offered for rent only as an entire batch without splitting, already networked and delivered, with a one-year fixed-price contract, current-month fees due in the current month, no deposit required, and an external quotation of 8,500 yuan/unit/month. After verification, the source of this batch of resources was a computing power service provider. During the same period, the actual transaction price of 4090 8-card servers in the Shanghai market was 7,200 yuan/unit/month; some resources with expiring lease terms were once quoted at 6,900 yuan for a quick sale, but were ultimately still traded at 7,200 yuan. There was a clear price spread between intermediary asking prices and first-hand market transaction prices, and the first-hand transaction anchor of the 4090 market remained around 7,200 yuan.

Platinum prices were in the doldrums today. Macro data, US July core CPI was 2.5% YoY, versus 2.5% expected and 2.6% prior. In early trading, the most-traded GFEX platinum futures contract PT2610 closed at 432.1 yuan/g, down 0.52%. The best ask price for SGE platinum 9995 was at a discount of about 2 yuan/g against the GFEX PT2610 contract. In the spot market, mainstream platinum quotations were at a discount of about 3 yuan/g against the PT2610 contract. With some deeply discounted cargoes cleared, import price spreads narrowing, and the futures market weakening in early trading today, mainstream quotation discounts narrowed slightly from the previous trading day. Downstream buyers mainly purchased after price negotiations based on orders, with most transactions concluded near mainstream quotations. Overall, consumption in the spot platinum market recovered slightly today.

[SMM Rare Earth Daily Review: Rare Earth Prices Diverge; Pr-Nd Weak, Medium-Heavy Rare Earth Stable] Overall, downstream inquiry and purchasing interest was subdued, market inquiry activity remained thin, overall trading sentiment was sluggish, and rare earth prices continued to diverge: the Pr-Nd market was pressured by a continued pullback in futures prices, with some suppliers slightly lowering their quotes; medium-heavy rare earth prices were relatively firm and overall stable. In the short term, affected by the stalemate in market trading, Pr-Nd product prices are expected to remain in a narrow sideways consolidation pattern.

SMM, August 13: In early trading, the SHFE aluminum 2608 contract moved lower from yesterday's center; market buying sentiment improved further, and trading among traders was relatively active. Today, SHFE aluminum spot premiums were mainly traded between parity against the August contract and August contract +10 yuan/mt, while market transactions against the September contract were at discounts of 30 yuan/mt to 20 yuan/mt. Today, the east China market shipment sentiment index was 3.18, up 0.01 day on day; the purchase sentiment index was 3.30, up 0.04 day on day. Aluminum futures pulled back somewhat; today, downstream processing enterprises in the central China market showed a slight recovery in purchase willingness, and overall market trading volume recovered. Large traders remained notably willing to hold prices firm and hold back from selling, and the price difference between large and small traders' quotes was wide. In the end, actual transaction prices in the central China market were in a range of discounts of 110-150 yuan/mt against the SHFE aluminum September contract. Today, the central China market shipment sentiment index was 3.06, down 0.03 day on day; the purchase sentiment index was 2.95, down 0.02 day on day. Inventory side, aluminum ingot inventories in major consuming regions rose by 3,000 mt day on day today, with only Gongyi showing destocking.

[Guangdong: Transactions Were Average, Spot Discounts Widened] Guangdong #0 zinc was mainly traded at 25,480-25,670 yuan/mt. Mainstream brands were quoted at discounts of 100-70 yuan/mt against the 2609 contract, and at a discount of 45 yuan/mt against Shanghai spot zinc. The Shanghai-Guangdong price spread narrowed...

SMM, August 13: Futures turned sharply lower today, while the South China spot market remained weak. Inventory accumulated again after four months, somewhat dampening expectations for the market outlook, and bearish sentiment gradually emerged. With both absolute prices and the spot-futures price spread weakening, holders briefly tried to hold prices firm but failed, then generally cut prices and sold more to cash out promptly. Mainstream quotations were at discounts of 20 yuan/mt to parity, and the glut in circulation was no different from that during yesterday’s sharp rally. Demand side, downstream buyers gradually bought on dips while standing on the sidelines, though buying interest was not high. Traders still bought less and sold more, with only as-needed purchases, which created a clear drag. Both supply and demand were weak, and overall transactions were poor. Spot transaction prices were concentrated at premiums of 65 yuan/mt to 105 yuan/mt over the SHFE aluminum 2608 contract.

In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the highest monthly rental for the H800 fell to 74,000 yuan (down 1.99%), and the highest per-card-hour rate fell to 12.85 yuan (down 1.98%). The pullback was driven by the exit of high-priced resources previously traded at 75,500 yuan and the repricing of a small volume of annual-contract resources in Hebei at 74,000 yuan, reflecting a change in supply structure rather than weakening demand. High-end spot cargo transactions confirmed demand resilience; supply growth remains limited, and the top anchor remains in a high range.

In North China today, spot #1 copper cathode prices were quoted against the front-month contract at a discount of 420-350 yuan/mt, with the average discount at 385 yuan/mt, down 80 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; the average transaction price was 107,870 yuan/mt, down 360 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.