Posted on 22 Jan 2024
Under the pressure of the strengthening US dollar index, China's derivatives markets for nonferrous metals generally cooled during the week of January 15-19, with the most-traded futures contracts for copper, aluminum and nickel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) all moving lower on week.
The US Federal Reserve official's hawkish tone and better-than-expected US labor market data released this week together cooled down market expectations for rapid interest rate cuts, and the dollar index rose accordingly, weighing on global markets for nonferrous metals including those in China, market sources noted.
On the London Metal Exchange (LME), the three-month contracts of copper, aluminum and nickel all decreased by yesterday. Their prices had eased by $29/t, $56/t, and $187/t respectively from January 12 to close at $8,310/t, $2,163.5/t and $16,156/t on January 18, the LME data showed.
In China, the most-traded SHFE contracts for copper and aluminum for March delivery both declined on week on Friday, falling by Yuan 300/tonne ($41.7/t) and Yuan 345/t respectively to close the daytime session at Yuan 67,770/t and Yuan 18,660/t, according to the exchange's data.
On the same day, the SHFE's most-traded February nickel contract also tracked lower on week, with the price losing Yuan 1,040/t from last Friday's settlement price to close the day at Yuan 127,950/t.
Also on Friday, inventories of copper and aluminum in the SHFE's registered bonded and normal warehouses had both increased on week, with the former tonnage up by 4,668 tonnes to 47,753 tonnes and the latter higher by a small 20 tonnes at 96,687 tonnes.
However, the warehouses saw their nickel stocks decline slightly on week, with stocks of the base metal slipping by 82 tonnes to 14,111 tonnes on Friday, according to the SHFE's data.
Source:Mysteel Global
