SHFE non-ferrous metals futures largely strengthen after holiday

During February 24-27, the first trading week after the Chinese New Year holiday, futures prices for key non-ferrous metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) – namely those of nickel, copper, and aluminum – all strengthened compared with their levels on February 13, the last trading day before the break.

By the end of Friday's daytime trading session, the most-traded nickel futures contract for May delivery had jumped by 4.1% from two weeks earlier to Yuan 141,560/tonne ($20,649.5/t). Meanwhile, the most-traded April copper and aluminum contracts also climbed by 3.3% and 2.5% respectively from their pre-holiday levels, closing at Yuan 103,920/t and Yuan 23,835/t. Among the