[SMM Morning Meeting Summary: US Dollar Strengthened, LME Zinc Came Under Pressure] Last Friday, LME zinc opened at $3,315.5/mt. At the beginning of the session, bulls and bears were intertwined, and LME zinc briefly rose to a high of $3,316.5/mt. Subsequently, bulls reduced their open interest, and LME zinc fluctuated downward, touching a low of $3,270.5/mt during European trading hours. পরে, the center moved up slightly and fluctuated in consolidation along the daily average line, finally closing down at $3,293.5/mt, down $21/mt, or 0.63%. Trading volume fell to 7,065 lots, and open interest decreased by 1,630 lots to 215,000 lots.

In January-February, raw coal production of industrial enterprises above designated size (hereinafter referred to as industrial enterprises above designated size) remained stable, crude oil production turned from decline to growth, natural gas production maintained steady growth, and the growth rate of power generation accelerated. I. Production of Raw Coal, Crude Oil, and Natural Gas and Related Information The decline in raw coal production narrowed. In January-February, raw coal production of industrial enterprises above designated size was 760 million mt, down 0.3% YoY, with the rate of decline narrowing by 0.7 percentage points from December 2025; daily average production was 12.93 million mt. Crude oil production turned from decline to growth. In January-February, crude oil production of industrial enterprises above designated size was 35.73 million mt, up 1.9% YoY, compared with a decline of 0.6% in December 2025; daily average production was 606,000 mt. Crude oil processing maintained growth. In January-February, crude oil processed by industrial enterprises above designated size totaled 122.63 million mt, up 2.9% YoY; daily average processing was 2.079 million mt. Natural gas production maintained steady growth. In January-February, natural gas production of industrial enterprises above designated size was 44.6 billion m³, up 2.9% YoY; daily average production was 760 million m³. II. Power Generation The growth rate of power generation of industrial enterprises above designated size accelerated. In January-February, power generation of industrial enterprises above designated size was 1,571.8 billion kWh, up 4.1% YoY, with the growth rate 4 percentage points faster than in December 2025; daily average power generation was 26.64 billion kWh. By type, in January-February, thermal power generation of industrial enterprises above designated size turned from decline to growth, hydropower growth accelerated, while the growth rates of nuclear power, wind power, and solar power generation slowed. Specifically, thermal power generation of industrial enterprises above designated size was up 3.3% YoY, compared with a decline of 3.2% in December 2025; hydropower was up 6.8%, with the growth rate accelerating by 2.7 percentage points; nuclear power was up 0.8%, with the growth rate slowing by 2.3 percentage points; wind power was up 5.3%, with the growth rate slowing by 3.6 percentage points; solar power generation was up 9.9%, with the growth rate slowing by 8.3 percentage points.

[SMM Zinc Morning Comment] Last Friday, the most-traded SHFE zinc 2604 contract opened at 24,205 yuan/mt. In early trading, SHFE zinc briefly rose to a high of 24,255 yuan/mt, then bears added to their positions, sending SHFE zinc fluctuating downward all the way to a low of 24,070 yuan/mt near the close. It finally closed down at 24,080 yuan/mt, down 60 yuan/mt, or 0.25%, with trading volume falling to 37,382 lots and open interest increasing by 1,553 lots to 76,744 lots.

[SMM Daily Review: Cost Support Met Cooling Downstream Prices, Putting Pressure on High-Grade NPI Prices] March 16 News: SMM's upstream sentiment factor for high-grade NPI was 2.89, down 0.03 MoM, while the downstream sentiment factor for high-grade NPI was 1.63, down 0.09 MoM.

After a strong start, the price of gold slipped twice to around $5,060 during this trading week. Now, it appears that gold prices might manage to stay just above $5,100 heading into the weekend, continuing the persistent sideways movement of the past five weeks.

March 13 (Reuters) - Gold was on track for a second straight weekly loss, even as it edged higher on Friday, as surging oil prices dampened rate cut bets and caused investors to cover margin calls, while a rising dollar and U.S. yields also pressured prices.

[SMM Daily Chrome Commentary: Ore Prices Continued to Rise, While Ferrochrome Remained Temporarily Stable] March 16, 2026: Spot chrome ore prices continued to rise, while ferrochrome quotations saw no adjustment for the time being...

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Last Friday night, LME copper opened at $12,871/mt. It hit a high of $12,942/mt amid wide swings early in the session, after which the center of copper prices gradually moved lower and fell to $12,733/mt near the close, finally settling at $12,735.5/mt, down 1.64%. Trading volume reached 22,600 lots, and open interest stood at 307,000 lots, an increase of 3,144 lots from the previous trading day, mainly due to bears adding positions. Last Friday night, the most-traded SHFE copper 2604 contract opened at 100,520 yuan/mt and climbed to 100,760 yuan/mt early in the session. Afterwards, the center of copper prices fluctuated downward and touched a low of 99,710 yuan/mt near the close, with a decline of 0.86%. Trading volume reached 38,900 lots, and open interest stood at 190,000 lots, a decrease of 930 lots from the previous trading day, mainly due to bulls reducing positions.

[SMM Cast Aluminum Alloy Morning Comment: Bulls Lost Momentum at High Levels, Aluminum Alloy Futures Prices Should Watch Lower Support] Last Friday, quotations in the secondary aluminum alloy market were mainly stable. Before noon, fluctuations in futures narrowed, enterprises' willingness to adjust prices weakened significantly, and most producers chose to hold prices steady and wait on the sidelines. In the afternoon, as futures fluctuated downward, some producers began to lower quotations by 100 yuan/mt. Demand side, downstream players still mainly made just-in-time procurement, but amid the pullback in aluminum prices and the approach of the weekend, some enterprises showed slightly stronger purchasing interest, and market transactions improved somewhat from the previous day.

SMM Nickel News, March 16: Macro and Market News: (1) The financial statistics report for February released by the central bank showed that at month-end February, broad money (M2) balance stood at 349.22 trillion yuan, up 9% YoY; cumulative aggregate social financing for the first two months was 9.6 trillion yuan, 316.2 billion yuan more than the same period last year; new RMB loans in the first two months increased by 5.61 trillion yuan; the balance of domestic and foreign currency deposits was 345.72 trillion yuan, up 8.8% YoY; and the month-end RMB deposit balance was 337.94 trillion yuan, up 8.7% YoY. (2) The central bank said in its tender announcement for open-market outright reverse repo operations that on March 16, 2026, the People's Bank of China will conduct 500 billion yuan of outright reverse repo operations through a fixed-quantity, interest-rate bidding, and multiple-price allocation method, with a tenor of six months (182 days). Spot Market: On March 16, the SMM #1 refined nickel price fell by 2,650 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Spot premiums: Jinchuan #1 refined nickel averaged 6,700 yuan/mt, up 50 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; China mainstream branded electrodeposited nickel was at -300-400 yuan/mt. Futures Market: The most-traded SHFE nickel contract (2605) fell sharply intraday and closed the morning session at 135,990 yuan/mt, down 1.83%. Tensions in the Middle East pushed up oil prices, intensifying inflation concerns. The market expects the US Fed may slow the pace of interest rate cuts, while the US dollar continued to strengthen, creating clear pressure on nickel prices. Despite significant macro pressure, the industry-level support logic has not changed, and market concerns over tightening supply of nickel intermediate products remain. Short term, the most-traded SHFE nickel contract is expected to move sideways in the 135,000-145,000 yuan/mt range.