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Sales and production of automobiles across China during March surged 74.9% and 71.6% on year respectively, according to the latest released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on April 9. The substantial on-year growth in both sales and production was mainly supported by the low base numbers for March 2020, the association explained.
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Chinese prices of nickel pig iron (NPI) kept stable over the past week. Domestic smelters were reluctant to lower their offering prices further, even though prices of nickel concentrate had slipped during that period, sources said.
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China’s price of 99.7% aluminum ingot climbed further by Yuan 192/tonne ($29.4/t) on week to Yuan 17,483/t including the 13% VAT as of April 6, according to Mymetal’s assessment, amid gradually improving demand.
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China’s price for 99.99% grade copper cathode strengthened by Yuan 863/tonne ($132/t) on week to reach Yuan 67,106/t including the 13% VAT as of April 6, according to Mymetal’s assessment. That domestic copper prices have hovered around the same high level since mid-February has restrained demand for the metal, however, market insiders say.
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China’s domestic lead demand yet showed any obvious improvement over March 31-April 6, and the national price of the primary lead ingot (at least 99.994%), bent to the weight, down Yuan 379/tonne ($58/t) on week to Yuan 14,888/t including the 13% VAT as of April 6, according to the latest survey from Mymetal, Mysteel’s nonferrous metals data collection arm.
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China’s national average price of zinc ingot (99.995% at least) rebounded after the Qingming Festival over April 3-5, up Yuan 471/tonne ($72/t) from April 2 to Yuan 22,140/t including the 13% VAT as of April 6, according to Mymetal’s assessment, or still persisting at a two-year high, partly due to the supply tightness in zinc concentrate.
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Jiangxi Copper Co, China’s leading copper producer headquartered in East China’s Jiangxi province, saw its copper cathode production rise 5.5% on year to 1.6 million tonnes in 2020, but its net profit declined 5.9% on year, it stated in its annual report released on March 30. The smelter cited the impact to its business from the COVID-19 outbreak during January-March last year, as well as the downward trending treatment charges (TCs).
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Lead futures prices on China’s Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) spiked on Monday in marked contrast to the performance of other major non-ferrous metals contracts on the exchange, notably by copper and aluminum, which fell the same day. The lead prices moved up mainly because of concerns about reduced availability, according to Mymetal, Mysteel’s non-ferrous market intelligence unit.
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China’s price of 99.7% aluminum ingot increased Yuan 107/tonne ($16.3/t) on week to Yuan 17,291/t including the 13% VAT as of March 30, according to Mymetal’s assessment, which has shown signs of stabilizing after the panicking slump last Tuesday on more supplies, mainly as demand may well pick up in the second quarter to offer higher output, Mysteel Global noted.
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China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the country’s manufacturing industry rebounded by 1.3 basis points on month to 51.9 in March after having in contraction for three months, or having stayed above the threshold of 50 for the 13th month, indicating the continuity in China’s economic expansion, according to release from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on March 31.
