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As China’s fight against Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (NCP) continues to show encouraging signs of progress of late, more Chinese enterprises have been resuming operations after this year’s extended Chinese New Year holiday break. Several provinces have reported that over 70% of the industrial enterprises they host have restarted work, Mysteel learnt from announcements of local authorities on February 19.
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Aluminum demand from Chinese downstream consumers remains weak currently, while the low operational capacity at aluminum fabricators has also dampened aluminum demand, market watchers said on Friday. Consequently, aluminum prices are showing no vital signs of recovering for now.
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China plans to waive tariffs it imposed on some US-origin goods in response to Washington’s Section 301 tariffs, and metal scrap including copper, aluminum and steel is among the items on the duty exclusion list, according to a February 19 announcement from China’s Ministry of Finance (MoF). However, Chinese market sources expected the measure’s effect on the country’s metal market to be limited.
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China’s domestic demand has been recovering more slowly specially from lead-acid battery producers after the Chinese New Year holiday because of the national battle against Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (NCP) since late January, Mymetal, Mysteel’s nonferrous market data collection arm, understood from the market sources.
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The resumption of operations among many Chinese producers of regenerated lead was still slow over the past week, according to the latest survey conducted by Mymetal, Mysteel’s nonferrous market data collection arm.
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Retail aluminum ingot stocks across China climbed further during the week to February 14 to reach a recent eight-month new high due to stagnant demand for the light metal and blocked logistics across the country, according to the latest stocks report from Mymetal, Mysteel’s nonferrous metals data collecting arm.
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Stocks of imported nickel concentrates at the 15 major ports across China under Mysteel’s regular monitoring dipped to a 13-week low of 15.9 million tonnes as of February 14, or down another 970,800 tonnes or 5.7% from January 17, mainly due to lower imports from both Indonesia and Philippines, market sources said on Tuesday.
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Zinc ingot inventories across six major Chinese markets have been swelling over the past month, with stocks increasing during and after the Chinese New Year holiday over January 24-February 2 to reach 249,800 tonnes as of February 17, a high since March 30 2018, as consumption remained slack while production has been largely normal, Mymetal’s latest survey showed. Mymetal is Mysteel’s nonferrous data collection arm.
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Unit cost at BHP’s core copper ore operation, its Escondida mine in North Chile, declined 6% on year to $1.1/lb for the first half of FY 2020 (July-December 2019), according to its financial report released on February 18.
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China’s domestic copper prices stayed firm during the past two weeks after prices witnessed significant declines following the Chinese New Year holiday (January 24-February 2), mainly because market players expected smelters to restrain production, according to a weekly report from Mymetal, the nonferrous market data collection arm of Mysteel.
