The Jiangxi lithium mine project has passed the land pre-review, but still has a long way to go before formal approval.

Review today's market trends and stay on top of the latest developments. Good morning, listeners. Today is Friday, June 19, 2026. Welcome to Futures Morning Rush. Futures Morning Rush — the top choice for millions of futures professionals!

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1. Goldman Sachs Vice Chairman and former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Kaplan, said that if inflation remains high, the Fed may need to raise interest rates as early as September.

2. According to the Shanghai Energy and Commodities Exchange, market orders will be available starting July 6, 2026 (i.e., during the continuous trading session on the evening of July 3, 2026).

3. Indonesia plans to officially launch the B50 biofuel program on July 1, aiming to blend 50% palm oil-based biodiesel with 50% conventional diesel, and added that current fuel test results have performed well.

4. According to the Iranian Students News Agency: The head of Iran’s largest petrochemical group stated that 89% of the petrochemical facilities that ceased operations during the war have resumed production.

5. According to an announcement by the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources, land pre-review and site selection for the lithium mining project in Zhenkouli, Yifeng County, and Jianxiawo, Fengxin County, have been approved. According to Futures Daily reporters, within the full lifecycle of a construction project, land pre-review and site selection opinions constitute the first step in the pre-project approval and planning implementation phase.

1. Kaplan, Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs and former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said that if inflation remains elevated, the Fed may need to raise rates as early as September. Fed policy actions are rarely single moves; rate hikes typically come in sequences of two or three. So I think if you act in September, you need to be prepared—there may be one or two more to follow.

2. According to data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, as of June 18, the Shanghai Export Container Freight Index (composite index) stood at 3,121.69 points, an increase of 136.47 points compared to the previous period. The China Export Container Freight Index composite stood at 1,599.07 points, up 8% compared to the previous period.

3. According to the Shanghai Energy and Commodities Exchange, market orders will be available starting July 6, 2026 (i.e., during the continuous trading session on the evening of July 3, 2026). Market orders will be applicable to all listed futures and options contracts. The minimum order size for limit orders is 1 contract, with a maximum of 500 contracts for futures and 100 contracts for options.

4. The U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding states that Iran will arrange for safe passage of vessels, with fees waived for 60 days.

5. On June 18 local time, a spokesperson for the President of the European Council said that EU leaders agreed to extend economic sanctions against Russia by 12 months.

6. According to CCTV News, on the 18th local time, a source familiar with the matter said that Iran’s negotiation delegation has postponed its trip to Switzerland due to Israel’s ongoing attacks in southern Lebanon.

1. International precious metals futures generally closed lower; COMEX gold futures fell 3.50% to $4,227.90 per ounce, and COMEX silver futures dropped 7.05% to $65.78 per ounce.

2. The main contract for U.S. crude oil closed down 0.64% at $75.52 per barrel; the main contract for Brent crude oil fell 0.29% to $79 per barrel.

3. Most base metals in London ended lower; LME zinc rose 1.16% to $3,629.5/ton, LME lead fell 0.15% to $1,976.0/ton, LME aluminum fell 0.50% to $3,393.5/ton, LME copper fell 1.15% to $13,655.0/ton, LME nickel fell 1.52% to $17,785.0/ton, and LME tin fell 3.67% to $53,315.0/ton.

4. International agricultural futures fell across the board: U.S. soybeans dropped 0.79%, U.S. corn fell 0.99%, U.S. soybean oil declined 2.25%, U.S. soybean meal dropped 1.34%, and U.S. wheat fell 1.29%.

According to China.com, Li Chao, Deputy Director of the Policy Research Office and spokesperson of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated at a press conference that as of June 16, the coal stockpiles at nationwide unified dispatch power plants reached 210 million metric tons, with an average of 34 days of available supply, providing a solid foundation for safe and stable delivery.

2. According to Mysteel, the capacity utilization rate of 523 coking coal mines was 71.2%, up 1.6% month-over-month. The daily average raw coal production was 1.60 million tons, up 36,000 tons month-over-month. Raw coal inventory stood at 4.51 million tons, down 201,000 tons month-over-month. The daily average clean coal production was 685,000 tons, up 11,000 tons month-over-month. Clean coal inventory was 1.709 million tons, down 41,000 tons month-over-month.

3. According to Mysteel, as of the week ending June 18, rebar production increased for the second consecutive week, apparent demand turned from decline to growth, mill inventories rose for the third consecutive week, and social inventories declined for the fourteenth consecutive week. Rebar production reached 2.1873 million tons, an increase of 41,400 tons from the previous week, or 1.93%; mill inventories stood at 1.8492 million tons, up 31,200 tons from the previous week, or 1.72%.

4. According to the China Iron and Steel Association, in May 2026, the country produced 84.36 million tons of crude steel, a year-over-year decrease of 2.7%, with daily output at 2.7213 million tons/day, a环比 decrease of 2.4%; produced 72.97 million tons of pig iron, a year-over-year decrease of 2.6%, with daily output at 2.3539 million tons/day, a环比 decrease of 0.1%.

5. According to Mysteel’s survey of 247 steel mills, the blast furnace utilization rate is 84.25%, unchanged week-over-week and up 0.43 percentage points year-over-year; the ironmaking capacity utilization rate is 90.81%, up 0.52 percentage points week-over-week and up 0.02 percentage points year-over-year; the steel mill profit margin is 55.84%, unchanged week-over-week but down 3.47 percentage points year-over-year; the daily average pig iron output is 2.4224 million tons, up 13,800 tons week-over-week and up 600 tons year-over-year.

6. According to Mysteel, the total inventory of imported iron ore at 45 ports nationwide is 165.57 million tons, a decrease of 0.0684 million tons环比; daily port discharge volume is 3.3589 million tons, an increase of 0.1157 million tons; the number of vessels at port is 121, an increase of 4. The total inventory of imported iron ore at 47 ports nationwide is 173.11 million tons, an increase of 0.02066 million tons环比; daily port discharge volume is 3.495 million tons, an increase of 0.1081 million tons.

1. EIA Natural Gas Report: As of the week ending June 12, the total U.S. natural gas inventory stood at 2,759 billion cubic feet, an increase of 73 billion cubic feet from the previous week, a decrease of 29 billion cubic feet compared to the same period last year (a 1.0% year-over-year decline), and 151 billion cubic feet above the five-year average (a 5.8% increase).

2. According to Longzhong Information, this week, the total inventory of soda ash in China amounted to 1.7002 million tons, a decrease of 0.0063 million tons from Monday, or 0.37%. Among this, light soda ash inventory was 1.0434 million tons, down 0.0074 million tons week-over-week, while heavy soda ash inventory stood at 0.6568 million tons, up 0.0011 million tons week-over-week.

3. According to the Iranian Students News Agency: The head of Iran’s largest petrochemical group stated that 89% of the petrochemical facilities that ceased operations during the war have resumed production.

4. According to the Enterprise Singapore (ESG): For the week ending June 17, Singapore’s fuel oil inventories rose by 151,000 barrels to a two-week high of 14.991 million barrels. Light distillate inventories decreased by 633,000 barrels to a two-week low of 12.031 million barrels. Middle distillate inventories increased by 1.332 million barrels to a three-week high of 8.236 million barrels.

1. According to SMM, on June 18, 2026, a launch ceremony was held for the 40,000-ton-per-year lithium carbonate production line at the Jijiao Mountain lithium mine operated by Dazhong Mining in Linwu, Hunan. The mine contains 490 million tons of lithium ore with 1.31 million tons of lithium oxide resources, along with associated strategic minerals such as rubidium, tungsten, tin, niobium, and tantalum, all of which reach medium to large-scale reserves. The concentrator is designed to process 20 million tons of ore annually. The project obtained its Mining License in January 2026, and other permits, including the Safety Production License, are being processed in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The mine and integrated lithium salt plant are scheduled to commence operations in early Q4 this year.

2. The Guangzhou Futures Exchange announced that, with the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, lithium carbonate futures and options listed on the exchange have been designated as domestic specific commodities.

3. According to the Shanghai Futures Exchange: This week, copper inventories decreased by 44,372 tons, aluminum inventories decreased by 1,540 tons, zinc inventories decreased by 1,929 tons, lead inventories remained unchanged, nickel inventories increased by 2,414 tons, and tin inventories decreased by 785 tons.

4. According to an announcement from the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources, land pre-review and site selection for the lithium mining project in Zhenkouli, Yifeng County, and Jianxiawo, Fengxin County, have been approved. According to Futures Daily reporters, during the entire lifecycle of a construction project, the land pre-review and site selection opinion serve as the first step in the pre-project approval and planning implementation phase. This stage occurs before the project is officially approved or formally planned, and it is the earliest legally required permit—marking the first gateway to project implementation, still some distance from formal approval.

1. Expectations of mine resumption and coal supply assurance weigh on metallurgical coal

Jinrui Futures research report indicates that expectations of mine resumptions and coal supply assurance policies are pressuring metallurgical coal prices. A document titled “Notice of the Qinyuan County People’s Government on Issuing the Implementation Plan for Further Strengthening Mine Resumption and Acceptance Work” has circulated in the market, sparking expectations of resumptions at idled coal mines. Today, the National Development and Reform Commission stated that as of June 16, coal inventories at nationwide regulated power plants reached 210 million tons, with an average of 34 days of available supply, providing a solid foundation for secure and stable delivery. Moving forward, the commission will continue promoting efficient fulfillment of medium- and long-term coal supply contracts for power generation, ensuring coal’s fundamental role in supply assurance and system regulation to guarantee secure and stable energy and power supply during the peak summer demand period. Although the current production rate of metallurgical coal mines remains low, output is expected to stabilize and rise as mines gradually resume operations, while steel demand is in its seasonal lull, exerting downward pressure on pig iron production. This creates a risk of marginal oversupply in the metallurgical coal balance sheet. Under supply assurance policies, thermal coal inventories have been gradually increasing, with stockpiles at the five major ports already exceeding levels from the same period last year. The most constrained period for metallurgical coal supply appears to have passed, and prices may oscillate weakly in the short term.

2. Major mines update production resumption progress; warehouse receipt pressure remains unresolved; lithium carbonate plunges sharply

Huawen Futures research report points out that after the earlier surge in lithium carbonate, downstream demand has become more cautious, and the pressure from warehouse receipts and inventories has not been fundamentally resolved, weakening the narrative of inventory reduction. As of June 18, the lithium carbonate warehouse receipts on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange stood at 52,700 contracts; although they have shown a consecutive decline, they remain at a historically high level above 50,000 contracts, indicating that the delivery pressure from visible inventories has not been substantially alleviated. Recent futures price movements reflect a market adjustment from optimistic tight balance expectations back to wide-ranging volatility. Institutions generally view June-July as a phase of consolidation and bottom-finding, with the true demand peak catalyst expected only in August-September. Overall, lithium carbonate remains in a wide-ranging trading environment characterized by resilient supply, rising demand, and high inventory levels. Future price movements will require close attention to actual lithium ore arrivals from Zimbabwe, the pace of downstream seasonal restocking, and changes in warehouse receipt volumes.

1. Profit from self-bred and self-raised pigs and purchased piglets in China as of June 19.

2. Weekly inventory of rapeseed meal and soybean meal in China as of June 19.

3. Monthly report from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).