SHFE non-ferrous metal futures rise on week

By the close of the daytime trading session on Friday, the SHFE's most-traded December copper contract had recorded a 3.9% on-week jump to close at Yuan 87,720/tonne ($12,316/t). Similarly, the most-traded December aluminum and nickel contracts also climbed, rising by 1.5% and 0.7% from a week earlier to Yuan 21,225/t and Yuan 122,150/t, respectively.

The on-week gains were largely the result of stronger investor confidence fuelled by expectations of continued economic improvement in China and signs of easing China-U.S. trade tensions, according to market analysts.

During October 20-23, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing. The meeting approved the proposal on formulating the 15th five-year plan for the country's economic and social development, which emphasizes high-quality growth, enhanced technological self-reliance, and improving people's livelihoods. Chinese market participants expect the proposal to pave the way for more supportive economic and industrial policies in the months ahead.

On the international front, China and the U.S. are scheduled to hold a new round of economic and trade consultations in Malaysia over October 24-27. The discussions could arrive at solutions to ease the impact of the additional tariffs announced earlier by the Trump administration, market watchers noted.

These positive news reports have strengthened sentiment among Chinese investors in the non-ferrous metals sector and lent support to the SHFE non-ferrous futures prices.

During this week, the SHFE's warehouse data showed mixed movements. As of October 24, copper and aluminum stocks in SHFE-bonded and standard warehouses had fallen by 4.9% and 3.2% from October 17 to 104,792 tonnes and 118,168 tonnes, respectively. In contrast, nickel inventories had risen by 4.8% on week to 36,075 tonnes.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com