Arabian TV Denies Iranian Media's Claim of US-Iran Agreement

Review today's market trends and stay on top of market dynamics. Good morning, listeners. Today is Friday, May 22, 2026. Welcome to Futures Morning Rush. Futures Morning Rush—the top choice for millions of futures professionals!

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1. Wash will be sworn in as Chair of the Federal Reserve tonight at 11 PM.

2. Recently, false information titled "Internal Implementation Plan for the 2026 Annual Rotation and Release of Central Reserve Cotton" has circulated online, drawing industry attention. According to verification by the China Cotton Association, relevant state authorities and the association have never formulated such a document, and the content of the circulated document is entirely fabricated.

3. The Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs convened a meeting, chaired by Party Secretary and Minister Zhang Zhu. The meeting emphasized the need to strengthen responsibilities and missions, take the initiative, and promptly advance key tasks in agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. It stressed the importance of effectively managing the “Three Summers” production, striving to secure a bountiful summer harvest, continuously enhancing comprehensive regulation of pig production capacity, and stabilizing prices of major agricultural products such as pork.

4. Four sources said that seven major OPEC+ oil-producing countries are likely to agree to a modest increase in their production targets for July when they meet on June 7.

5. Al Jazeera refutes Iranian media reports citing it on a "U.S.-Iran agreement."

1. The White House: The swearing-in ceremony for the new Federal Reserve Chair, Walsh, will be held at 11:00 AM on May 22 (23:00 Beijing Time).

2. The Dalian Commodity Exchange held its 2026 Members' Meeting, during which it was mentioned that the product lineup will be innovatively expanded, with continued refinement of the product offerings across agricultural, chemical, and iron and steel raw material supply chains, and strengthening of the futures and derivatives toolset, all grounded in serving a strong agriculture sector, a strong manufacturing sector, and green, low-carbon development.

3. Mohammad Amin-Nejad, Iran’s ambassador to France, recently stated: “Iran is discussing with Oman how to establish a permanent fee system to formalize its control over maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran and Oman must mobilize all resources to provide security services and manage navigation in the most appropriate manner. This will incur costs, so countries that wish to benefit from this passage must also bear their share of responsibility (i.e., pay fees to reopen the strait).”

4. According to Al Jazeera, an Iranian senior official denied reports that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had issued a new directive requiring enriched uranium to remain within Iran, calling it “propaganda by the enemies of the agreement.” The official added, “No new directive has been issued; Tehran’s position has always been consistent—Iran will dilute these materials itself, and this will also be a topic for the next round of negotiations.”

5. According to Al Jazeera, senior Pakistani officials are engaged in intensive mediation. The outlet cited a senior Iranian official stating that negotiators are very close to reaching an agreement and are currently drafting the text. Meanwhile, another source indicated that it is still too early to determine whether a serious final agreement can be reached.

6. Al Jazeera stated that reports by Iranian media claiming that a U.S.-Iran agreement has been reached and attributing this information to Al Jazeera are fabricated. The Iranian media’s attribution of these unverified reports to Al Jazeera constitutes journalistic misinformation.

7. The Public Relations Department of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy recently stated that, over the past 24 hours, 31 vessels—including tankers, container ships, and other commercial vessels—passed through the Strait of Hormuz under the coordination and security of the IRGC Navy.

1. The front-month U.S. crude oil contract closed down 0.26% at $98.00 per barrel; the front-month Brent crude oil contract fell 0.1% to $104.92 per barrel.

2. International precious metals futures edged higher, with COMEX gold futures rising 0.2% to $4,544.2 per ounce, and COMEX silver futures rising 1.09% to $77.02 per ounce.

3. Most base metals in London ended lower; LME lead rose 1.29% to $2,005.0 per ton, LME aluminum rose 0.47% to $3,639.5 per ton, LME copper fell 0.33% to $13,610.0 per ton, LME zinc fell 0.37% to $3,542.5 per ton, LME tin fell 0.44% to $53,795.0 per ton, and LME nickel fell 0.92% to $18,755.0 per ton.

1. According to Mysteel, as of the week ending May 21, rebar production continued to rise, while apparent demand shifted from increase to decline, mill inventories turned from decrease to increase, and social inventories declined for the tenth consecutive week. Rebar production reached 2.2114 million tons, an increase of 197,400 tons from the previous week, up 9.80%; apparent demand for rebar was 2.4179 million tons, a decrease of 7,300 tons from the previous week, down 0.30%.

2. According to SMM research, the rate of inventory reduction for building materials slightly accelerated this period. As of May 21, 2026, social inventory for building materials stood at 5.4348 million tons, a decrease of 197,600 tons from last week, or 3.51%, with a slightly faster reduction rate than last week.

3. According to Mysteel, the total inventory of imported sintering fines at 114 steel mills under the new statistical口径 is 28.5575 million tons, an increase of 246,400 tons from the previous period. The total daily consumption of imported sintering fines is 1.1967 million tons, an increase of 400 tons from the previous period. The inventory-to-consumption ratio is 23.86, up by 0.19 from the previous period.

4. This week, Mysteel’s Coal and Coke Division surveyed the profit per ton of coke at 30 independent coking plants nationwide, with an average national profit of 72 yuan per ton; the average profit for secondary-grade coke in Shanxi was 106 yuan per ton, for secondary-grade coke in Shandong it was 111 yuan per ton, for secondary-grade coke in Inner Mongolia it was 58 yuan per ton, and for secondary-grade coke in Hebei it was 124 yuan per ton.

1. The head of ADNOC, the UAE’s state-owned oil company, said that even if the Middle East conflict ends now, full restoration of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz would not occur until the first or second quarter of 2027. This forecast is among the most pessimistic among senior industry executives, highlighting the long-term economic impact of the war with Iran.

2. According to the Enterprise Singapore (ESG): For the week ending May 20, Singapore’s fuel oil inventories rose by 1.419 million barrels to a four-week high of 21.5 million barrels. Middle distillate inventories declined by 1.33 million barrels to a six-week low of 9.026 million barrels. For the week ending May 20, light distillate inventories fell by 51,000 barrels to a two-week low of 14.878 million barrels.

3. According to the National Development and Reform Commission, effective at 24:00 on May 21, the prices of domestic gasoline and diesel (standard products) were increased by RMB 75 and RMB 70 per ton, respectively.

4. As of May 21, the methanol inventory at East China ports was 4.026 million tons, down from 4.561 million tons on May 14, a decrease of 535,000 tons month-over-month.

5. Analysts note that due to Iran’s war disrupting oil exports, Saudi Arabia has been forced to shut down部分 oil fields, leading to natural gas supply interruptions; as a result, Saudi Arabia is expected to burn more imported fuel oil for power generation this summer.

6. According to Longzhong Information, as of May 21, 2026, the total inventory of soda ash in China this week stood at 1.776 million tons, a decrease of 19,300 tons from Monday, or 1.08%. Of this, light soda ash inventory was 1.0044 million tons, up 15,300 tons week-over-week, while heavy soda ash inventory was 771,600 tons, down 34,600 tons week-over-week. This represents a decrease of 105,700 tons compared to last Thursday, or 5.62%.

7. Goldman Sachs stated that global crude oil and refined product inventories are being depleted at a record pace this month due to the ongoing Middle East conflict and constrained supply. In a report on May 20, Goldman Sachs analysts noted that visible inventories have been declining at a record rate of 8.7 million barrels per day since May, nearly double the average rate since the conflict began.

8. EIA Natural Gas Report: As of the week ending May 15, the total U.S. natural gas inventory stood at 2,391 billion cubic feet, an increase of 101 billion cubic feet from the previous week and 33 billion cubic feet higher than the same period last year, a 1.4% year-over-year increase. The inventory is also 149 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, a 6.6% increase.

9. Four sources said that seven major OPEC+ oil-producing countries are likely to agree to a modest increase in their July production targets when they meet on June 7, despite supply disruptions in several of these countries due to the Iran conflict. The sources said the monthly production targets set by these seven core OPEC+ members are expected to be raised by approximately 188,000 barrels per day.

1. According to Mysteel, as of this week (May 21), the spot inventory of lithium ore among 32 sampled lithium ore traders amounted to 125,000 metric tons, a decrease of 38,000 metric tons week-over-week, including 77,000 metric tons of sellable inventory, down 20,000 metric tons week-over-week.

2. According to SMM, as of this Thursday, the total zinc ingot inventory in seven regions amounted to 262,500 metric tons, a decrease of 1,700 metric tons from May 14 and a decrease of 3,500 metric tons from May 18, reflecting a decline in domestic inventory.

3. According to the Silicon Industry Association’s survey, the overall industry utilization rate this week showed no significant change compared to last week. Among them, two leading companies had utilization rates of 42% and 44%, respectively; integrated enterprises operated at rates between 50% and 60%, while other companies ranged between 50% and 68%.

1. The glass bottom is weakly consolidating; proceed with caution regarding technical rebounds.

According to the research report from Guangda Futures, overall, the rise in glass prices is primarily due to technical rebound rather than any substantial improvement in fundamentals. Although capacity has reached a year-over-year low, the downside space is limited; demand is undergoing mild recovery but remains insufficiently strong; inventory pressure has yet to ease. None of the three fundamental factors—supply, demand, or inventory—provide clear bullish support. Glass futures prices are expected to continue trending with weak consolidation at the bottom, lacking the foundation for a sustained upward move. Strategically, traders with a moderately bullish outlook on glass should proceed cautiously, strictly manage potential risks, and avoid chasing prices, as the scope and durability of the technical rebound are both limited.

2. Concerns over Ebola outbreak disrupting tin mining supply in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have boosted tin prices.

New Hu Futures research report indicates that, according to reports, a new Ebola outbreak has completely spiraled out of control, with the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continuing to deteriorate, resulting in a cumulative 88 deaths, and the deadly virus successfully spreading across borders into Uganda. The eastern region is the primary production area for tin mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; an uncontrolled outbreak could disrupt tin mining and shipping. In recent years, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the world’s main source of growth in tin supply, accounting for nearly 10% of global tin production in 2025, with output expected to rise further in 2026, maintaining a share exceeding 10% globally. If Ebola-related disruptions halt mine production or shipping, tin supply could decline, further tightening an already constrained market and potentially leading to temporary shortages. Uncertainties from the疫情, policies, and other factors have heightened the vulnerability of overseas tin supply, while consumption continues to see new growth drivers, particularly from the booming semiconductor market led by AI, which offsets weaker demand in other sectors. The actual impact of the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on tin mining and shipping remains to be observed. Caution is advised against chasing prices in the absence of material impacts.

1. TBC, profit margins for self-bred and self-raised pigs and purchased piglets in China as of May 22.

2. Pending, China's weekly inventory of rapeseed meal and soybean meal through May 22.

3. TBC, iron ore inventory at 45 Chinese ports as of May 21.