Delaware Depository, a COMEX/NYMEX Depository for the storage and delivery of gold, gold (enhanced delivery), silver, platinum, and palladium deliverable against the Exchange’s respective futures contracts, will implement new rates in connection with Storage of Gold, Gold (Enhanced Delivery), and Silver at its facilities located in Delaware. The new rates reflect the maximum amounts of fees that can be charged and will be effective July 1, 2026.

[SMM Daily Review: Low-Priced Sell-Offs Fueled Panic Sentiment, Triggering a Phased Decline in High-Grade NPI] March 20 News: SMM's upstream sentiment factor for high-grade NPI was 2.84, down 0.04 MoM, while the downstream sentiment factor for high-grade NPI was 1.63, up 0.04 MoM.

How the mighty have fallen. Silver was the talk of the town as it surged by roughly 60% in January trading, hitting highs of just above $120. That is a far cry from where we are trading now, with the precious metal suffering another 5% drop today and poised for six straight daily losses in nine.

SMM Nickel, March 20: Macro and Market News: (1) The Party Committee of the People's Bank of China held an enlarged meeting on March 18, which stated that it would continue to effectively implement a moderately accommodative monetary policy, firmly safeguard the stable operation of financial markets such as equities, bonds, and foreign exchange, and advance legislative formulation and amendments including the People's Bank of China Law and the Financial Stability Law. (2) The interest rate futures market priced in only 5.5 basis points of US Fed interest rate cuts this year, and bets on rate hikes began to emerge. Spot Market: On March 20, the SMM price of #1 refined nickel rose by 3,000 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In terms of spot premiums, the average price of Jinchuan #1 refined nickel was 6,550 yuan/mt, down 200 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, while the mainstream China electrodeposited nickel brands were quoted at -300-400 yuan/mt. Futures Market: The most-traded SHFE nickel contract (2605) staged a sharp rebound, closing the morning session at 134,780 yuan/mt, up 1.50. Yesterday, nickel prices once fell below the 130,000 yuan mark, as trades on expectations of a global economic recession triggered by escalating geopolitical conflict in the Middle East put the metals complex under pressure overall. Nickel prices then took the lead in rebounding sharply, recovering to around 135,000 yuan/mt in the morning session. Short term, sentiment from the macro perspective may continue to dominate the market, and nickel prices may maintain wide swings.

SMM News, March 20: In the morning session, SHFE aluminum 2604 fluctuated downward, with the price center falling sharply from the previous trading day. Affected by the decline in aluminum prices, overall purchasing sentiment rose today, prompting sellers to hold prices firm. Mainstream transaction prices in the market today were concentrated around the average price of the SHFE aluminum 04 contract to +20 yuan/mt. Today, the east China market shipments sentiment index was 3.2, up 0.06 MoM; the purchasing sentiment index was 3.23, up 0.07 MoM. Today, SHFE aluminum futures prices plunged sharply. Coupled with downstream processing enterprises' procurement and stockpiling demand ahead of the weekend market closure, overall buying sentiment in the central China market was high, with strong bullish sentiment. Suppliers showed a strong willingness to hold prices firm, and there was no downward trend in market quotations. However, the pass-through of prices to downstream enterprises resulted in relatively limited premiums. Ultimately, the overall quotation range in the central China market was concentrated at central China prices plus 10 yuan to plus 60 yuan, while actual mainstream transaction prices were concentrated at central China prices plus 30 yuan to plus 40 yuan. Today, the central China market shipments sentiment index was 2.61, up 0.03 MoM; the purchasing sentiment index was 2.51, up 0.08 MoM. Inventory side, aluminum ingot inventory in mainstream consumption regions fell by 3,000 mt MoM today, with destocking mainly coming from Wuxi and Gongyi. In the short term, after the Chinese New Year, aluminum ingot inventory has continued its seasonal buildup. Affected by bullish market sentiment, premiums are expected to maintain a narrowing trend.

Downstream Purchasing Activity for Nickel Intermediate Products Increased, Tight Supply and Demand Drove Prices Higher

This Week (March 13–March 19), the Operating Rate of Machinery in the Enamelled Wire Industry Rebounded 3.8 Percentage Points WoW to.....

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Overnight, LME copper opened at $12,093.5/mt. Early in the session, the center of copper prices gradually moved lower and fell to $11,754/mt, then fluctuated upward to a high of $12,228.5/mt, before seeing wide swings and finally closing at $12,211.5/mt, down 1.05%. Trading volume reached 46,900 lots, open interest stood at 288,600 lots, an increase of 239 lots from the previous trading day. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2605 contract opened at 92,500 yuan/mt and fell to 91,820 yuan/mt early in the session. The center of copper prices then fluctuated upward to a high of 95,530 yuan/mt, before fluctuating rangebound and finally closing at 94,920 yuan/mt, down 0.91%. Trading volume reached 153,000 lots, open interest stood at 197,000 lots, down 6,302 lots from the previous trading day, mainly due to long liquidation.

[Market Participants Became More Rational in Sentiment, and Grain-Oriented Silicon Steel Prices May Fluctuate Rangebound Next Week] In terms of transactions, the procurement pace of end-use industries such as downstream transformers and power equipment slowed down, and purchase willingness remained cautious, with procurement mainly consisting of small-volume, as-needed restocking orders, while large-volume purchasing activity was scarce, resulting in relatively low actual market trading activity. In addition, resources from steel mills’ earlier directed orders arrived successively, and traders’ circulating inventory accumulated steadily. Some merchants offered slight price concessions to accelerate turnover and boost shipments, but the overall room for concessions remained limited and failed to effectively lift transactions.

Platinum prices fluctuated upward today. In early trading, the most-traded platinum contract PT2606 on GFEX opened lower at 507.95 yuan/g, down 2.33 percent at the open, then fluctuated upward and closed the morning session at 523.85 yuan/g, up 0.73 percent. In the spot market, spot platinum was quoted at discounts of 7-9 yuan/g against PT2606, or at a discount of 2 yuan/g to parity against the SGE seller-1 price. Spot discounts were basically flat from the previous trading day. As for spot transactions, SMM learned that some traders reported more inquiries and actively purchased, while a few suppliers showed lower willingness to sell and held back cargo to maintain inventory. Downstream buyers negotiated purchases based on demand, and overall trading in the spot market was normal.