SMM April 17: Metals market: As of the daytime close, most base metals on the domestic market rose, with only SHFE copper and SHFE lead declining together. SHFE copper fell 0.04% and SHFE lead dropped 0.39%. SHFE nickel gained 1.54%, while the remaining metals posted gains of less than 1%. The alumina front-month contract rose 0.64%, and the foundry aluminum front-month contract fell 0.06%. In addition, the lithium carbonate front-month contract rose 2.81%, the polysilicon front-month contract gained 0.2%, and the silicon metal front-month contract rose 0.83%. The Europe containerized freight front-month contract surged 6.72% to close at 2,132.3. Ferrous metals mostly rose, with stainless steel leading the gains at 2.2%, while the remaining metals posted gains of less than 1%. Coking coal and coke side, coking coal fell 0.57% and coke dropped 0.15%. Overseas market, as of 15:03, overseas base metals showed mixed performance. LME nickel led the gains at 1.34%, while the % change of the remaining metals fluctuated within 1%. Precious metals, as of 15:03, COMEX gold fell 0.05% and COMEX silver rose 0.04%. In China, SHFE gold dropped 0.56% and SHFE silver fell 1.18%. In addition, the platinum front-month contract fell 2.3% and the palladium front-month contract dropped 2%. Market data as of 15:03 today Macro Front China: [NDRC: This year will focus on launching a series of actions to expand effective investment in areas such as "AI+" infrastructure] The State Council Information Office held a press conference on the morning of April 17 under the series theme of "Getting Off to a Good Start for the 15th Five-Year Plan." Wang Changlin, Deputy Director of the NDRC, stated that this year the focus will be on launching a series of actions to expand effective investment in areas such as "AI+" infrastructure, urban renewal, the national water network, and new-type energy systems, to promote the optimization of supply structure and the expansion of market demand. In terms of institutional and mechanism innovation, comprehensive "soft construction" efforts will be carried out across central government investment projects to foster long-term mechanisms for project construction, implementation, operation, and maintenance. Meanwhile, the national venture capital guidance fund will be leveraged to guide and drive social capital to support technological innovation and the development of emerging industries. Wang Changlin noted that recently, in response to the impact of changes in the international situation on China's oil and gas imports, the government adopted comprehensive measures to effectively ensure sufficient domestic oil product supply and stable market operations, fully demonstrating the achievements of China's new-type energy system development. Going forward, efforts will be made to accelerate the high-quality development of non-fossil energy, coordinate centralized and distributed clean energy development, and make every effort to increase the scale of non-fossil energy power production and consumption. Through the above efforts, it is expected that by 2030, the supply scale of non-fossil energy will grow significantly compared to 2025, and by 2035, it will double compared to 2025. [NDRC: Efforts to Expand Effective Domestic Demand, with a Plan to Formulate the 2026–2030 Implementation Plan for the Strategy of Expanding Domestic Demand] The State Council Information Office held a press conference in the series themed "Getting Off to a Good Start in the 15th Five-Year Plan Period," introducing the relevant situation of promoting high-quality economic and social development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Wang Changlin, Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), stated that since the beginning of this year, positive changes had emerged in economic performance, with notable improvements on both the supply and demand sides, better serving as a stabilizer for the global economy, and outperforming the expectations of many institutions and experts in and outside China. Going forward, efforts should focus on five key areas of work. [Pan Gongsheng: Implementing a Moderately Accommodative Monetary Policy and Measures to Boost Consumption] Pan Gongsheng stated that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will adhere to a domestic demand-driven approach, implement policy measures to boost consumption, vigorously develop the service sector, closely integrate investment in physical assets with investment in human capital, promote productivity growth, accelerate green transformation and sustainable development, unswervingly advance high-level opening-up, and drive high-quality development. The People's Bank of China will implement a moderately accommodative monetary policy, support Chinese-style modernization with high-quality financial services, and contribute China's strength to global economic growth. (People's Bank of China) [MIIT and Four Other Departments Jointly Issued the Guidelines for Green Design of Industrial Products (2026 Edition)] MIIT and four other departments jointly issued the Guidelines for Green Design of Industrial Products (2026 Edition). The Guidelines adapt to new changes and requirements in the green and low-carbon development landscape in and outside China, build consensus on green design across industries, and outline 11 key directions, namely long-life design, non-toxic design, lightweight design, energy-saving design, water-saving design, material-saving design, noise reduction design, space-saving design, easy-to-recycle design, reusable design, and zero-carbon design. The Guidelines further closely integrate the 11 key green design directions with practical industry applications, using 15 key industries as typical examples, and refine them into 126 solutions to guide product R&D personnel in practicing green design concepts and methods. (MIIT WeChat Account) [PBOC Achieved a Net Withdrawal of 1.5 Billion Yuan Through Reverse Repo Operations] The PBOC conducted 500 million yuan of 7-day reverse repo operations today. As 2 billion yuan of 7-day reverse repos matured today, a net withdrawal of 1.5 billion yuan was achieved. This week, the PBOC conducted a total of 3 billion yuan in 7-day reverse repo operations. As 3.5 billion yuan in 7-day reverse repos matured this week, a net withdrawal of 500 million yuan was achieved. (Jin10 Data) US dollar: As of 15:03, the US dollar index rose 0.04% to 98.24. Data side, the number of initial jobless claims in the US declined last week, indicating that labour market conditions remained stable, even though employers were cautious about hiring new workers as the Middle East conflict cast a shadow over the economy. The latest data showed that US initial jobless claims for the week ending April 11 fell by 11,000 to 207,000, below market expectations of 215,000. Initial jobless claims this year have remained within the range of 201,000 to 230,000. While layoffs remained relatively low, the oil price shock from the US-Israel war against Iran may have hindered hiring. Economists noted that the labour market had already been in a state of stagnation before the war broke out, attributable to the uncertainty brought by Trump's sweeping import tariffs and mass deportations. Economists said the Middle East conflict was just another layer of uncertainty for enterprises. (Jin10 Data) The chief rates strategist at SEB said that the 10-year US Treasury yield had been closely tracking market reactions to expectations for US Fed policy rate cuts. Further downward revisions in US Fed rate expectations could push the 10-year Treasury yield slightly lower in the near term, but not by much, with yields expected to remain largely within the 4.10%–4.30% range over the coming months. Deutsche Bank expects the US Fed to keep rates unchanged in 2026, compared with its previous forecast of an interest rate cut in September. (Jin10 Data APP) According to the CME "FedWatch" tool: the probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike by the US Fed in April was 0.5%, while the probability of holding rates unchanged was 99.5%. The probability of a cumulative 25-basis-point interest rate cut by the US Fed through June was 1.4%, the probability of holding rates unchanged was 98%, and the probability of a cumulative 25-basis-point rate hike was 0.5%. (Jin10 Data APP) On the macro front: The eurozone February seasonally adjusted current account and eurozone February seasonally adjusted trade balance data will be released today. Also worth watching: 2027 FOMC voter and San Francisco Fed President Daly is scheduled to deliver a speech. Crude oil: As of 15:03, oil prices on both markets fell, with WTI down 1.07% and Brent down 0.66%. The market was optimistic that the Middle East conflict is about to end. A Pakistan-flagged oil tanker entered the Persian Gulf over the weekend, becoming the first vessel to transport crude oil cargo through the Strait of Hormuz since the US imposed a blockade on Monday. Traffic through this critical waterway remained at extremely low levels. According to ship-tracking data, late on Thursday, the tanker "Shalamar" departed from south of Iran's Larak Island and entered the Gulf of Oman, carrying approximately 450,000 barrels of crude oil loaded at Das Island in the UAE. The Aframax tanker was currently only half-loaded, with its destination signal indicating Karachi. (Jin10 Data APP) Ryoji Musha, president of Japan's Musha Research, stated that the gap between the pessimistic sentiment reported by the media and actual market behavior was too large to ignore. Since the Iran conflict broke out on February 28, the S&P 500 had recovered all its losses and returned to within just 1% of its all-time high. While near-term crude oil futures prices remained elevated, contracts for delivery six months out had already pulled back to the $70 range. Therefore, the market was not assuming a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, nor was it assuming a third oil crisis would occur. Furthermore, Musha pointed out that the global economy's dependence on crude oil was no longer as high as it was in the 1970s, and oil's share in Japan's energy mix had declined from 76% during the first oil crisis to 35% in 2024. Alternative routes such as pipelines in Saudi Arabia and the UAE already existed, and a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz would not serve Iran's own interests either, as the strait was also a lifeline for Iran's trade. Japan remained vulnerable to renewed increases in imported energy and transportation costs, but the market was no longer trading as if a full-blown oil crisis were about to erupt. (Jin10 Data APP) SMM Daily Reviews ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ►

SMM July 14 News: Metals Market: As of the day session close, domestic base metals mostly declined with only SHFE tin rising 0.41%. SHFE aluminum fell 1.45%, SHFE lead dropped 0.12%, SHFE nickel slightly declined, SHFE copper decreased 0.17%, and SHFE zinc fell 0.67%. Alumina main contract dropped 0.6%, while aluminum alloy main contract fell 0.88%. Additionally, lithium carbonate main contract rose 3.71%, polysilicon main contract gained 0.81%. Silicon metal main contract surged 3.27%, and the Europe container shipping main contract rose 0.52% to close at 2072.2. Ferrous metals series mostly rose, with only stainless steel declining 0.24%. Iron ore, rebar, and HRC all rose less than 0.3%. For coking coal and coke, coking coal gained 1.15% and coke rose 1.09%.Z6/>Overseas market: As of 15:25, most overseas base metals trended lower, with LME copper up 0.17% and LME nickel rising 0.24%. LME zinc increased 0.05%, while LME aluminum fell 0.67%. LME lead, LME zinc, and LME tin all dropped less than 0.4%. Precious metals: As of 15:25, COMEX gold rose 0.46%, COMEX silver gained 1.03%, with NYMEX silver peaking at $39.525/ounce during the session - its highest since September 2011. Domestically, SHFE gold rose 1.06%, SHFE silver surged 2.11%, with SHFE silver peaking at 9267 yuan/kg - a record high since listing. Market snapshot as of 15:25 todayZ9/>》Click to view SMM Market Dashboard Macro Front Domestic Developments: [PBOC: H1 aggregate financing up 22.83T yuan, new loans 12.92T yuan, June M2 up 8.3% YoY] According to PBOC preliminary statistics, China's aggregate financing to the real economy (AFS) totaled 22.83 trillion yuan in H1 2025, up 4.74 trillion yuan YoY. Breakdown shows: RMB loans to the real economy increased 12.74 trillion yuan (up 279.6B YoY); foreign currency loans (converted to RMB) decreased 63.8B yuan (down 55.8B YoY); entrusted loans decreased 51.3B yuan (decline narrowed by 40.4B YoY); trust loans increased 144.3B yuan (growth slowed by 165.5B YoY); undiscounted bankers' acceptances decreased 55.7B yuan (decline narrowed by 180.8B YoY); corporate bond net financing reached 1.15T yuan (down 256.2B YoY); government bond net financing hit 7.66T yuan (up 4.32T YoY); domestic equity financing by non-financial enterprises totaled 170.7B yuan (up 49.3B YoY). RMB loans grew 12.92T yuan in H1. Sector breakdown: household loans increased 1.17T yuan (including 3B yuan decrease in short-term loans and 1.17T yuan increase in medium/long-term loans); enterprise loans surged 11.57T yuan (4.3T yuan in short-term, 7.17T yuan in medium/long-term loans, with 46.4B yuan decrease in bill financing); non-bank financial institution loans rose 33.1B yuan. Central bank data shows that as of June-end, the balance of broad money (M2) stood at 330.29 trillion yuan, up 8.3% YoY. The balance of narrow money (M1) reached 113.95 trillion yuan, up 4.6% YoY. The balance of currency in circulation (M0) totaled 13.18 trillion yuan, up 12% YoY. Net cash injections reached 363.3 billion yuan in H1. 》Click for details [GAC: China's foreign trade in goods grows 2.9% YoY in H1; "new three" products up 12.7%] The State Council Information Office held a press conference at 10:00 AM today, with Wang Lingjun, Deputy Administrator of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), introducing China's import-export performance in H1 2025 and answering questions. Wang stated: Since the beginning of this year, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has adhered to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, unswervingly focused on its own development, and unwaveringly expanded high-standard opening up. Efforts have been made to stabilize employment, enterprises, markets, and expectations while effectively responding to external shocks. The national economy has maintained overall stability with progress, and China's foreign trade has withstood pressures, maintained momentum, and demonstrated vitality amid complex circumstances. According to GAC statistics, China's foreign trade in goods reached 21.79 trillion yuan in H1, up 2.9% YoY. Exports totaled 13 trillion yuan (up 7.2%), while imports stood at 8.79 trillion yuan (down 2.7%). Five key characteristics are highlighted: 1) Steady growth in trade scale. In H1, China's import-export scale remained above 20 trillion yuan, hitting a record high for the same period. Quarterly trends show Q2 imports/exports grew 4.5% YoY, accelerating by 3.2 percentage points from Q1 and maintaining YoY growth for seven consecutive quarters. 2) More diversified trade partnerships. 3) Upgraded and innovative export momentum. In H1, China's machinery equipment exports reached 7.8 trillion yuan (up 9.5%), accounting for 60% of total exports - a 1.2 percentage point increase YoY. High-end equipment closely related to new quality productive forces grew over 20%, while "new three" products representing green and low-carbon development rose 12.7%. 4) Expanding domestic demand stabilized imports. With continued policy implementation of "major national strategies" and "large-scale equipment upgrades," imports turned positive in Q2. In H1, China's imports of machinery equipment for petrochemical and textile industries achieved double-digit growth, key parts like electronic components grew rapidly, and imports of crude oil, metal ores, and other important raw materials increased. 5) Continued vitality of foreign trade entities. 》Click for details ► On July 14, the central parity rate of RMB against the US dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market was set at 7.1491 yuan per US dollar. US dollar update: As of 15:25, the US dollar index increased by 0.09% to 97.96. Following US President Trump's threat to impose 30% tariffs on EU and Mexican goods imported to the US, market risk aversion demand rebounded. Markets are now awaiting US June inflation data scheduled for Tuesday release to gain more clues on the US Fed's interest rate path. Current market pricing implies a 50bps rate cut by the US Fed before December. (Wenhua Comprehensive) Macro Updates: Canada's May wholesale sales monthly rate and other data will be published today. Notably: the State Council Information Office holds a press conference on H1 2025 financial statistics; the National Energy Administration releases monthly nationwide power consumption data around the 15th of each month; US President Trump plans to deliver a "major statement" on Russia-related issues. Crude Oil Market: As of 15:25, both WTI and Brent crude prices rose, with WTI up 0.6% and Brent up 0.55%. Oil prices extended Friday's gains amid concerns that potential US sanctions on Russia could impact global supply, though Saudi production increases and persistent tariff uncertainties limited gains. ANZ analysts noted price gains were capped after data showed Saudi Arabia exceeded its OPEC+ production quota. The Saudi Energy Ministry stated last Friday that Saudi Arabia fully complied with OPEC's voluntary output targets, adding that the country's June marketed crude supply reached 9.352 million bpd - in line with quota requirements. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported Saudi oil production reached 9.8 million bpd in June, exceeding its OPEC target by 430,000 bpd (target: 9.37 million bpd). General Administration of Customs data released Monday showed China's June crude oil imports reached 49.888 million mt (12.14 million bpd), up 7.4% YoY, with H1 cumulative imports at 279.386 million mt, up 1.4% YoY. (Wenhua Comprehensive) SMM Daily Reviews ►Z32/>[SMM Nickel Sulphate Daily Review] July 14: Nickel salt prices stabilize ► Manganese producers show weak willingness to sell at lower prices; spot prices rise slightly [SMM EMM Daily Review] ► [SMM Import Analysis] June iron ore imports hit annual high; July imports expected to pull back ► Pr-Nd prices surge rapidly while market transactions stagnate [SMM Rare Earth Daily Review] ► Silver extends rally to fresh highs; spot premiums decrease slightly [SMM Daily Review] Other metal spot daily reviews to be updated shortly - please refresh for updates