[SMM Coking Coal and Coke Daily Review] In news, some steel mills in certain regions have accepted the eighth round of coke price increases, with wet-quenched coke up by 50 yuan/mt and coke dry quenching up by 55 yuan/mt, effective June 22. Supply side, affected by the ongoing stringent safety inspections in Shanxi, coking coal supply remains tight, and the coking coal price increase has consistently outpaced the coke price increase; most coke producers are still incurring losses, and to reduce losses, these producers are voluntarily intensifying production restrictions, leading to a short-term decline in coke supply. Demand side, steel mill operating rates currently remain high, and due to the tight coke supply, their coke inventory replenishment has fallen short of expectations, leaving them with continued restocking demand for coke.

[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review] Macro Headwinds Drove SS Futures to Swing Wildly, Spot Stainless Steel Transactions Weakened but Prices Remained Firm According to SMM on June 18, SS futures were in the doldrums. Despite a pullback, the decline was limited, and the contract moved sideways during the day. As of market close, the most-traded SS futures contract settled at 15,150 yuan/mt. In the spot market, influenced by the sideways movement of futures and the approaching Dragon Boat Festival holiday, trading activity was mediocre under the combined effect of cautious wait-and-see sentiment and the holiday mood. Quotations remained firm, supported by steel mill guidance prices. SS futures, the most-traded contract: At 10:15 AM, SS2607 was reported at 15,060 yuan/mt, down 150 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Spot premiums for 304/2B in the Wuxi area were in the 160-560 yuan/mt range. In the spot market, the average price for cold-rolled 201/2B coil in Wuxi was flat. For cold-rolled 304/2B coil with raw edges, the average price in Wuxi was flat, and the average price in Foshan was flat. The price of cold-rolled 316L/2B coil in the Wuxi area was flat. For hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coil, the quotation in Wuxi increased by 70 yuan/mt. Cold-rolled 430/2B coil prices in both Wuxi and Foshan held steady. This week, stainless steel futures and spot cargo experienced wild swings. Outside China, fluctuating macro expectations repeatedly disturbed the futures market, intensifying the tug-of-war between longs and shorts. The overall pattern was one of macro factors dominating futures trends, transactions fluctuating with sentiment, tightening supply supporting spot cargo, stable inventory, and slightly recovering margins. At the start of the week, macro tailwinds lifted market sentiment, and a futures rebound drove a recovery in spot transactions. Mid-week, hawkish expectations for the US Fed intensified, futures weakened again, and end-user …

[SMM Aluminum Alloy Daily Review] Futures side, the most-traded cast aluminum alloy 2608 contract opened at 23,330 yuan/mt today. It rallied to an intraday high of 23,420 yuan/mt before bulls lost momentum and the price came under pressure, falling to a low of 23,250 yuan/mt. As of the morning close, it edged down 0.15% on the day. Spot side, the ADC12 market overall maintained a stable price trend today with limited fluctuations. SMM ADC12 held steady at 24,100 yuan/mt. With the Dragon Boat Festival holiday approaching, downstream die-casting enterprises showed limited purchasing interest, mostly restocking as needed, and no significant pre-holiday stockpiling activity emerged. Against a backdrop where both sellers and buyers lacked new drivers, enterprises generally held prices steady an

Platinum prices were in the doldrums today, with the market focusing on Fed Chairman Warsh’s first press conference since taking office. The 12 members voted unanimously to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged, an outcome in line with market expectations for weeks. Warsh stated that all policy actions ultimately take stabilizing inflation as the absolute core goal. On the Middle East geopolitical front, the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was officially signed and took effect, opening a 60-day negotiation period. In the morning session, the most-traded platinum contract PT2608 on the GFEX closed at 433.35 yuan/g, down 2.63%, while the inversion spread between the best ask price for platinum 9995 on the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the GFEX PT2608 hovered around 6 yuan/g. Spot market, mainstream platinum quotations were at a discount of 3 to 1 yuan/g against the PT2608 contract, the discount basically flat compared to the previous trading day. Downstream enterprises had ample stockpiles and strong wait-and-see sentiment, with some making rigid-demand purchases while pushing for lower prices. Bid-ask spreads in the spot market were wide, transactions at the high end of mainstream quotations were difficult, and some suppliers noted that market consumption was poor this week. Overall, platinum trading remained very sluggish today.

As of now, the FOB price of Indonesian MHP nickel is $16,326/mt Ni, and the FOB price of Indonesian MHP cobalt is $51,353/mt Co. The MHP payables (against SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate index) are 86-87, and the MHP cobalt payables (against SMM refined cobalt (Rotterdam warehouse)) is 95. The FOB price of Indonesian high-grade nickel matte is $16,412/mt Ni.

On June 18, the average price of SMM battery-grade nickel sulphate edged down slightly.

Today, SMM’s 10:00 am fixing price for SGE Ag (T+D) was 16,637 yuan/kg. The premium range was quoted at parity to +20 yuan/kg against T+D, with an average premium of 10 yuan/kg. On the macro front, the US Fed announced it would keep the federal funds rate target range at 3.50%-3.75% unchanged, marking the fourth consecutive hold. The latest dot plot showed that the overall stance of Fed officials tilted more hawkish than before, with most members expecting no rate cuts this year and nearly half seeing the possibility of further rate hikes. Silver futures dipped briefly after the meeting, then rebounded technically as expectations for further hikes did not intensify. On the geopolitical front in the Middle East, the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was officially signed and took effect, launching a 60-day negotiation period. In the spot market, overall consumption was weak today, and with the holiday approaching, some suppliers had cleared their inventories. Coupled with long-term contract lock-ins and export allocations, their willingness to sell was low. Offered prices held steady from yesterday, while price spreads remained wide. Morning offers in Shanghai were mainly at parity to +20 yuan/kg vs T+D, with actual transactions tilting towards the lower end. Low-priced cargoes in other regions were largely cleared, and smelters mostly quoted around parity to +10 yuan/kg. Premiums against the most-traded SHFE 2608 contract were quoted at -60 to -40 yuan/kg today. Overall, spot market trading remained sluggish.

HRC futures prices were in the doldrums today, with the most-traded contract closing at 3371, down 0.47%. In the spot market, sheet and plate spot prices in most regions were either in the doldrums or saw slight corrections intraday. From a fundamental perspective, raw material price trends have seen intensified volatility recently. Today, Singapore iron ore futures prices dipped below the 100 mark again for the first time in more than three months. For steel, given the frequent rainy weather in east and south China recently, the off-season impact on the market has deepened, and demand drivers remain limited. Sheet and plate prices are expected to move sideways in the near term, with downside for the most-traded HRC contract eyed at 3,330-3,350.

[SMM Chrome Daily Review: Ore Prices Continue to Fall, Market Expectations Bearish] June 17, 2026 – The ferrochrome and chrome ore markets fluctuated slightly...

SMM June 17: [SMM] On June 17, SMM A00 aluminum (Foshan) stood at 23,840, up 50, a discount of 90 to the front-month contract, flat (unit: yuan/mt) Today, futures edged up slightly, while spot aluminum in South China turned from strong to weak. Tight arrivals and significant destocking provided bottom support for holders. In the morning, they continued the pace of holding prices firm and raising them; however, the spot-futures price spread remained at a relatively high level. As the short holiday approached, risk-averse sentiment to liquidate gradually intensified, boosting selling enthusiasm and further easing circulation. Mainstream quotations were at premiums of 0 to +10 yuan/mt, and in practice, some small discounts had already emerged. Demand side, downstream rush-to-buy restocking demand was moderate, providing some absorption; traders' willingness to enter the market turned lower, only accepting relatively low-priced cargoes, with limited overall replenishment momentum. The momentum mismatched between the two sides, making transactions less than ideal. Spot transaction prices concentrated at premiums of -110 to -70 yuan/mt against the SHFE aluminum 2607 contract.