SMM

On the macro side, policy releases and domestic economic data performance diverged, leading to lower-than-expected zinc prices, which jumped initially and then pulled back. Fundamentals side, market news reported a fire at Australia's New Century mine, expected to affect production for 1.5 months, impacting production by 15,000 mt in metal content, but official news has not yet been released. If confirmed, this will cause some disruption to subsequent domestic imports. Domestically, with the increase in port inventory and the rise in domestic traders' quotations, market circulation improved, days of raw material inventories at smelters recovered upward, alleviating the tight raw material inventory situation at smelters to some extent. Domestic TC rebounded slightly, and the production of smelters that underwent maintenance previously also gradually recovered, increasing supply. On the consumption side, actual performance was lower-than-expected, and social inventory accumulated again. With overall supply increasing and demand weakening, zinc prices lacked the momentum to continue rising to 26,000 yuan/mt. In the absence of significant macro disturbances, it is expected to fluctuate rangebound overall.