[Indonesia Sticks to Nickel Production Expansion Plan, Competitors Forced to Shut Down Mines]
According to a report from the Financial Times, a senior government official in Indonesia stated that the country will continue to push forward with its plan to expand nickel production, despite oversupply forcing competitors to close nickel mines. The country's goal is to keep nickel prices low and safeguard the long-term demand for this crucial metal in electric vehicle batteries.
Shanghai copper closed higher and recorded its largest monthly gain in 16 months.
According to foreign reports on March 29th, Shanghai copper prices reached their highest monthly increase in 16 months at the end of March amid prospects of reduced supply. The most active May copper futures contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose by 350 yuan or 0.48% on Friday, closing at 72,530 yuan per ton.
Leipidolite price rose slightly while anode materials performed weakly in this week
This week, the price of leipidolite has seen a slight increase. From the perspective of market supply and demand, the overall production of mines in Jiangxi Province has been relatively sluggish, resulting in limited market circulation. However, with the gradual fading of the impact of environmental inspections in Jiangxi, some downstream smelting enterprises have gradually obtained approval for resumption of production. It is expected that the pace of resumption of work and production will be initiated in the short term. Currently, most downstream smelting enterprises that rely on external mining have relatively low leipidolite inventory. With the initiation of the resumption of production process, some enterprises have slightly increased their demand for replenishing stock, driving a slight increase in leipidolite prices.
LiCarbonate Daily - March 29th
March 29th spot market sees stability, with battery-grade index at 108,817 yuan/ton, while futures contract 2407 drops by 1.20%.
Data: SHFE, DCE market movement (Mar 29)
The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on Mar 29, 2024