China's domestic commodity futures opened mixed at the start of trading on August 21, with Shanghai silver leading gains while coking coal, stainless steel, and several agricultural and industrial products fell.
The split opening — energy and metals rising while industrial materials and agricultural commodities fell — shows traders are not moving in one direction, meaning there is no single clear signal for Chinese commodity demand today. Readers holding silver, lead, pulp, or energy-linked positions saw gains at the open, while those in coking coal, nickel, glass, or PVC saw losses.