Group 1: Report Overview - The report is a weekly report on the non-ferrous metals industry, specifically focusing on zinc, dated November 14, 2025 [1][2] Group 2: Market Review and Operation Suggestions Market Review - Overseas, the end of the US government shutdown led to a recovery in risk appetite, but the increased policy divergence within the Fed and the hawkish shift of dovish voting members dampened the expectation of a December interest rate cut. Base metals on the outer market collectively declined, dragging down the center of Shanghai zinc to 22,425 yuan/ton, erasing the early-week gains. The correlations between the US dollar, the RMB, and LME zinc were 98% and 89% respectively this week, compared with 10% and 13% last week. The Shanghai-London ratio repaired to 7.40 at a low level, with the exchange ratio at 1.00. The pattern of a stronger outer market and a weaker domestic market persisted, with the import loss remaining above 4,000 yuan per ton. The opening of the export window led to an increase in zinc ingot exports. Near the delivery this week, the market delivery volume increased, while downstream consumption was flat, and the spot outbound volume was lower than the inbound volume. The domestic social inventory fluctuated narrowly around 160,000 tons. The premium of the Shanghai market over the December contract was 100 yuan/ton, Tianjin reported a premium of 130 yuan/ton over December, and Guangdong reported a discount of 60 yuan/ton over the December contract, narrowing the Shanghai-Guangdong spread. In terms of positions, both long and short positions held by investment companies or credit institutions decreased, with the net short position decreasing by 3,672 lots. The warrant holding report showed a bullish trend, and the concentration of large positions was low [8] Operation Suggestions - Due to the lack of key economic data during the US government shutdown, the remarks of Fed officials dominated the expectations. According to FedWatch data, the probability of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in December dropped to 51.6%, with the probabilities of a cut and no cut almost equal, and market sentiment shifted. Since November, there have been successive deliveries at LME zinc warehouses in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Kaohsiung. As of the 12th, LME zinc inventory continued to increase by 575 tons to 35,875 tons, a cumulative increase of 2,050 tons from the beginning of the month. The Cash-3M spread's back structure slightly converged from around 138 at the beginning of the month to around 120, alleviating the tight supply situation. In China, the reduction of production at northern mines and the concentrated release of winter stockpiling demand by smelters led to a shortage of domestic ore supply. The panic buying by smelters pushed the processing fees down continuously. The SMM domestic zinc concentrate processing fee decreased by 200 to 2,650 yuan/ton, and the imported ore TC decreased by 4.17 to 98.37 US dollars/ton. The decline in TC squeezed the smelting profit, but the sulfuric acid price still rose steadily. SMM estimated that the refined zinc output in November might decline slightly month-on-month. With the end of the peak season downstream and frequent environmental protection warnings, the trend of ferrous metals was relatively weak, and the orders for galvanized and die-cast zinc were relatively light, making it difficult to boost the consumption side. Overall, as a series of data will be released after the US government resumes operation, the market's assessment of the impact will be more cautious, and LME zinc will maintain a high-level shock. Against the background of the realization of increased exports in China, the supply-demand pattern has improved marginally. The focus of the fundamentals has shifted to the support of the tight ore logic on zinc prices, but it is still constrained by the previous high of 22,800 yuan. In the short term, it is expected to oscillate strongly in the range of 22,300 - 22,800 yuan [9] Group 3: Fundamental Analysis Supply Side - The panic buying by smelters pushed the processing fees down continuously: Due to the winter reduction and shutdown of mines and the winter stockpiling demand of smelters, the processing fees for zinc ore continued to decline under the tight ore supply pattern. The average weekly SMM Zn50 domestic TC decreased by 200 yuan/metal ton to 2,650 yuan/metal ton, and the comprehensive processing fee for zinc concentrate (after a 2/8 split) was 4,160 yuan/ton. The SMM imported zinc concentrate index decreased by 4.17 US dollars/dry ton to 98.37 US dollars/dry ton. One ton of zinc produces two tons of acid as a by-product. The mainstream transaction price of 98% sulfuric acid in the East China market was 920 - 1,130 yuan/ton, and the mainstream transaction price of 98% smelting acid was 780 - 870 yuan/ton. The continuous increase in the price of raw material sulfur supported the stable increase of the sulfuric acid price from the cost side [18] - The overall refined zinc output in November may decline slightly: According to SMM, in October, China's refined zinc output increased by more than 17,000 tons month-on-month and about 21% year-on-year. The cumulative output from January to October increased by 10% year-on-year, lower than the expected value. It is expected that the domestic refined zinc output in November will decline by 0.9% month-on-month and increase by nearly 20% year-on-year. It is expected that the cumulative output from January to November 2025 will increase by more than 10% year-on-year [18] - The opening of the export window led to an increase in zinc ingot exports: In September, the import volume of refined zinc was 22,700 tons, a month-on-month decrease of 11.61%. The cumulative import volume of refined zinc from January to September was 258,200 tons, a cumulative year-on-year decrease of 19.27%. The export volume of refined zinc was 2,500 tons. The processing fees showed signs of stopping rising, increasing the production pressure on smelters. The overall performance of the peak season in consumption was not obvious, and the consumption support was insufficient. The social inventory increased to more than 160,000 tons. With the outer market stronger than the domestic market, the import loss of zinc ingots was more than 4,000 yuan/ton, and the export window opened. The export volume of zinc ingots by domestic smelters and traders increased to about 10,000 tons, and the import volume was mainly from long-term contracts [19] Demand Side - The operating rate of galvanizing was recorded at 57.59%, a month-on-month increase of 2.46%. The raw material inventory of galvanizing was 13,530 tons, and the finished product inventory was 365,600 tons. There were not many policies related to real estate and infrastructure during the peak season this year, and the improvement in project construction was limited. Orders for towers and photovoltaics showed some improvement. In the fourth quarter, it entered the seasonal off-season, and it was difficult for consumption to improve. Downstream traders purchased on a just-in-time basis, and there was no obvious improvement in enterprise orders. In November, the heating season began in the northern region, and environmental protection inspections increased, restricting the construction progress. Overall, the trend of ferrous metals was relatively weak. There may be a rush to complete projects before the Spring Festival, and the demand will be slightly postponed. The operating rate in the fourth quarter improved month-on-month but was weaker than the same period last year [20] - The operating rate of die-cast zinc alloy was recorded at 50.30%, a month-on-month decline of 0.65%. The raw material inventory of die-cast zinc was 11,840 tons, and the finished product inventory was 11,290 tons. The overall downstream demand was relatively light. The demand for traditional hardware orders such as luggage zippers, small ornaments, and medals was weak, and the overall demand for real estate hardware orders was also relatively light. The increase in aluminum and copper prices pushed up the production cost of alloys, and the net profit of enterprises shrank from the beginning of the year to less than 100 yuan/ton. Under this influence, there was also a certain wait-and-see sentiment downstream [20] - The operating rate of zinc oxide enterprises was recorded at 56.31%, a month-on-month decline of 1.32%. The raw material inventory of zinc oxide was 2,365 tons, and the finished product inventory was 6,075 tons. In the rubber-grade zinc oxide sector, the orders from large tire factories were relatively stable, but the demand from some small and medium-sized enterprises was weak. In the ceramic-grade zinc oxide market, the demand in the coarse ceramic market was still relatively average, and recently, some enterprises reported that the demand in the high-end ceramic-grade zinc oxide sector had also weakened. In addition, the demand for feed-grade and electronic-grade zinc oxide was relatively normal [21] Spot Market - Domestic inventory decreased by 0.17 million tons to 157,900 tons: As of November 13, the total inventory of SMM's seven major zinc ingot markets was 157,900 tons, a decrease of 800 tons from November 6 and a decrease of 1,700 tons from November 10, indicating a decrease in domestic inventory. Affected by the continuous opening of the export window and the reduction of arrivals at warehouses due to smelter production cuts, the inventory in the Shanghai area decreased significantly during the week. In the Guangdong area, downstream consumption was relatively flat, and the spot outbound volume was lower than the inbound volume. At the same time, near the delivery, the market delivery volume increased, driving a slight increase in inventory. Overall, the inventory in the original three major markets decreased by 2,000 tons, and the inventory in the seven major markets decreased by 1,700 tons [22] - LME zinc had a cumulative delivery of 2,050 tons: Since November, there have been successive deliveries at warehouses in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Kaohsiung. On the 12th, LME zinc inventory continued to increase by 575 tons to 35,875 tons, a cumulative increase of 2,050 tons from the beginning of the month. The Cash-3M spread's back structure slightly converged from around 138 at the beginning of the month to around 120 [22]
有色金属周报-20251114
Jian Xin Qi Huo·2025-11-14 11:45