News

Overseas alumina transaction: On February 3, 2026, 30,000 mt of alumina was traded overseas at a transaction price of $310/mt FOB Western Australia, with a March shipping schedule; the previous transaction occurred on January 20 at a transaction price of $304/mt FOB Western Australia, with a February shipping schedule.

As the Chinese New Year break approaches, the holiday schedules and production plans of enamelled wire enterprises have been largely finalized. SMM has surveyed multiple enamelled wire manufacturers, and the results are summarized as follows:

[SMM Brass Billet Bar] Regarding post-holiday production resumptions, brass bar enterprises generally expect a slow recovery in market demand. In the initial phase of production resumptions, the focus will be on digesting existing inventory and fulfilling a small number of orders. Large-scale raw material procurement and production are expected to be postponed until after the Lantern Festival.

[2026 Brass Bar Chinese New Year Break Arrangements] The break period is generally extended, with significant differences in scale: According to SMM, most brass billet enterprises plan to take a break from February 7 to February 12, and will resume production gradually on February 24 (the eighth day of the first lunar month). The break duration generally ranges from 12 to 17 days, longer than last year YoY.

As the extended Chinese New Year holiday approaches, SMM conducted a survey of 12 domestic copper plate/sheet and strip enterprises (with a combined annual capacity of 1.441 million mt): In 2026, the duration of the Chinese New Year break for copper plate/sheet and strip enterprises is mainly flat or increased, with clear overall industry break characteristics and core driving factors, as detailed below:

This week, the cobalt sulphate market remained largely sluggish overall. However, supported by positive news from the upstream mining sector, market purchasing sentiment showed some recovery compared to the previous period. Supply side, as the Chinese New Year holiday approaches, most smelters have successively arranged for production halts and maintenance. Combined with mining news strengthening bullish expectations for the future market, some enterprises have chosen to suspend quotations, while those maintaining quotations have raised their target prices to 96,000-98,000 yuan/mt. Demand side, due to concerns about a rapid price increase for cobalt sulphate after the holiday, downstream enterprises' purchase willingness has strengthened. It is reported that some companies' purchase intention prices for high-nickel cobalt sulphate have rebounded to 92,000 yuan/mt, while the purchase intention prices for low-nickel cobalt sulphate are in the range of 95,000-96,000 yuan/mt. Overall, as logistics gradually halt before the Chinese New Year, actual market transactions are expected to be quite limited next week, and cobalt sulphate prices are likely to remain largely stable. After the holiday, as downstream enterprises gradually resume procurement, prices may regain an upward trend.

This week, the domestic refined cobalt market saw limited overall changes, with spot prices fluctuating at lows. Supply side, affected by the decline in futures prices, mainstream smelters' spot premiums were too high, leading them to lower ex-factory prices; traders were bullish on the market outlook, hedgers raised spot-futures price spread quotes, while some unilateral speculators temporarily suspended quotations to observe the market. Demand side, as prices gradually stabilized, purchase willingness among some end-users recovered, with mainstream transaction prices concentrated in the range of 415,000–420,000 yuan/mt. Fundamentally, this round of price correction in domestic refined cobalt was mainly driven by market capital fluctuations and the broad decline in other metal prices. In the short term, as cobalt intermediate products still cannot arrive at ports in large quantities, the tight supply pattern of upstream raw materials has not fundamentally changed, and refined cobalt prices are expected to remain supported on the downside.

The cobalt intermediate products market remained in a state of nominal pricing with thin trading this week, with prices holding steady in the range of $25.5–26.0/lb. News such as the US "stockpiling plan" and the acquisition of certain cobalt mining rights of overseas miners by US-funded enterprises heightened market concerns about cobalt raw material shortages in China in 2026, strengthening suppliers' willingness to hold prices firm. However, as the year-end approaches, some smelters have entered the stage of clearing production lines and preparing for shutdowns, leading to a noticeable decline in purchase willingness and resulting in sluggish actual market transactions. Overall, against the backdrop of large-scale arrivals of cobalt intermediate products remaining distant, increased geopolitical risks are expected to exacerbate the structural tightness of domestic intermediate products, maintaining upward pressure on prices.

[SMM Silicone Weekly Review: Pre-Holiday Restocking by Mid- and Downstream Clients Gradually Winding Down, Overall Trading Sentiment in the Silicone Market Pulled Back] This week, domestic silicone DMC prices remained largely stable, with the mainstream transaction range edging up to 13,800-14,000 yuan/mt, flat WoW. By region, monomer enterprises in Shandong quoted 13,800 yuan/mt, while other major monomer enterprises quoted 14,000 yuan/mt. Overall market activity declined noticeably from the previous period, with new order performance generally subdued and mostly limited to small, rigid demand-based transactions.

[Zinc Ingot Inventory Continues to Accumulate, Zinc Prices Weaken During the Day]: The most-traded SHFE zinc 2603 contract opened at 24,800 yuan/mt, touched a high of 24,815 yuan/mt early in the session, then fluctuated downward throughout, approaching a low of 24,390 yuan/mt near the close, and finally settled down at 24,395 yuan/mt, falling 375 yuan/mt, a decline of 1.51%.

Today, the DCE iron ore market trended weaker. The benchmark contract, I2605, closed at 768.5 RMB/tonne, registering a decline of 1.73% from the previous trading session. Spot prices in the physical market dropped by 7–8 RMB/tonne compared to the prior day.

HRC futures edged down today, with the most-traded contract closing at 3,263, down 0.4% intraday. Spot market prices dipped slightly. Supply side, HRC production this week stood at 3.1925 million mt, up 10,400 mt WoW, though the increase remained limited ahead of the holiday. Demand side, more regions entered holiday mode, coupled with weak futures performance, end-user procurement demand further declined. Raw material side, hot metal output rose 21,000 mt WoW, but restocking at steel mills ahead of the holiday has temporarily concluded, leaving cost support neutral. Looking ahead, as demand weakens, HRC inventory has accumulated, but the overall increase aligns with seasonal trends. Spot procurement is expected to become increasingly sluggish before the holiday, while HRC futures may ...