Aluminum Softened; Lithium Rebounded; Tungsten Surged; Steel Margins Pressured

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Aluminum Softened; Lithium Rebounded; Tungsten Surged; Steel Margins Pressured

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Basic Materials - China

Aluminum Softened; Lithium Rebounded;

Tungsten Surged; Steel Margins Pressured

Industry Overview

Aluminum weakened; Lithium rebounded; Tungsten rallied 15 June 2026

Macro sentiment was driven by easing geopolitical risks and persistent inflation: progress Equity

in US–Iran talks supported risk appetite, while an upside CPI surprise lifted tightening China

expectations, weighing on copper. LME copper edged down 0.3% WoW to USD 13,448/t, Basic Materials

with China spot falling 0.8% WoW to RMB 104,720/t, while spot TC/RC remained deeply

negative at –USD 119.5/t. LME aluminum declined by 3.8% WoW to USD 3,508/t, with

Changjiang spot edged down 0.3% to RMB 24,140/t and margins weakening to RMB Matty Zhao >>

7,863/t. Moreover, gold fell 3.2% WoW to USD 4,189/oz; lithium carbonate improved 4.6% Research Analyst

WoW to RMB 170,500/t; U₃O₈ -1.3% WoW to USD 85/lb; Shanghai cobalt declined 4.8% Merrill+852 3508Lynch4001(Hong Kong)

WoW to RMB 397,000/t; NdPr oxide eased 1.2% WoW to RMB 691k/t, while tungsten matty.zhao@bofa.com

surged 5% WoW to RMB 523k/t. Edward Leung, CFA >>

Research Analyst

Steel: Margins pressured by weak demand & higher costs Merrill+852 3508Lynch3282(Hong Kong)

Steel markets were volatile and divergent this week, with early strength in coking coal edward.leung@bofa.com

reversing on policy pressure and weak downstream demand, before rebounding on Miriam Chan, CFA >>

renewed supply tightness. Iron ore also firmed on shipment constraints and tighter Merrill Lynch (Hong Kong)

liquidity, while in the spot market, a sixth round of coke price hikes further squeezed steel +852 3508 7478

miriam.chan@bofa.com