News

The platinum group metals market is entering 2026 on a more bullish footing than many expected a year ago, driven by tightening supply and a recalibration of long-term demand concerns.

Guangxi Yuegui Holdings has announced plans to raise up to 900 million yuan to fund three core industrial projects. The largest portion, 600 million yuan, will be allocated to a 100,000-ton/year refined wet-process phosphoric acid project. Additionally, 200 million yuan is earmarked for a glass-grade quartz sandstone mining project in Guangdong, while the remaining 100 million yuan will support the automation and scaling of Yunliu Mining’s crushing systems. These investments aim to drive production safety, reduce costs, and expand overall capacity through technical upgrades.

Influenced by the Iran incident, gold prices gapped up at the opening of the Asian market yesterday (2nd), according to a report from HSBC Global Research. It is believed that rising oil prices pushed up gold prices, with the premium on the Shanghai Gold Exchange turning positive and reaching USD10 per ounce.

The Indonesian Nickel Miners Association (APNI) and the Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) have officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish the "IndoPhil Nickel Corridor," a strategic platform between the world's two largest nickel producers. Signed in Manila on February 12, 2026, the agreement focuses on five key pillars: data and policy governance, industry dialogue, cross-country learning, ESG-based capacity building, and adaptive cooperation mechanisms. This collaboration aims to strengthen the regional nickel supply chain from upstream to downstream while aligning with ASEAN’s sustainable mineral development principles to support the global green energy transition.

[SMM SHFE Copper Flash] As copper prices fell and the price spread between SHFE copper futures contracts for different delivery months narrowed, suppliers showed a clear willingness to hold prices firm, and the center of spot premiums moved higher intraday compared with yesterday.

[SMM Aluminum Morning Meeting Minutes: Qatar Production-Cut News Provided a Boost; Overnight LME Aluminum and SHFE Aluminum Both Closed Higher] Overall, aluminum prices showed a trajectory of falling first and then rising around the Chinese New Year, and SHFE aluminum is expected to hold up well in the short term.

[SMM Cast Aluminum Alloy Morning Comment: Overnight Cast Aluminum Alloy Futures Fluctuated and Closed Higher; Spot Cargo Held Up Well] Overnight, the cast aluminum alloy 2604 contract showed a fluctuating trend, dipping first and then rising. After the open, prices quickly fell to an intraday low of 22,765 yuan/mt, then bottomed out and rebounded, fluctuating upward. During the session, the tug-of-war between longs and shorts was intense, with prices repeatedly seesawing; toward the close, prices gradually moved higher, recouping most of the losses. It ultimately closed up 1.49% at 23,090 yuan/mt.

[SMM Morning Meeting Minutes: Concerns Over Persistent Global Inflation; LME Zinc Posted Five Consecutive Down Days] Overnight, LME zinc posted five consecutive down days, with the center of the daily candlestick moving lower. As tensions in the Middle East heightened market concerns over persistent global inflation, the US dollar strengthened, putting pressure on the overall base metals complex, but......

[SMM Lead Morning Update: US Dollar Index Nears 100; LME Lead Falls to a 10-Month Low] SMM News, March 4: Overnight, LME lead opened at $1,967.5/mt. During the Asian session, LME lead traded relatively steadily, consolidating around $1,970/mt for most of the session......

[SMM Lead Morning Meeting Minutes: Geopolitical Risks Continue to Escalate, Lead Prices Under Pressure and Volatile Pull Back] The renewed US-Iran conflict has reignited “inflation concerns,” and the probability of the US Fed’s second interest rate cut this year has fallen to 50%. Overseas geopolitical tensions remain unchanged, supply-chain pressures are significant, and damage to the economic environment has weighed on base metals broadly, leading to widespread weakness...

[SMM Tin Morning Update: The Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Continued Its Downtrend in the Night Session After Hitting the Down-Limit in the Daytime Session, While Downstream Enterprises’ Purchasing Appetite Surged Significantly]

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has officially entered the US renewable energy market by acquiring a 33.3% stake in a $2.6 billion portfolio consisting of 17 solar plants and five onshore wind facilities. Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) will pay $425 million for its share of the 2.3-gigawatt capacity portfolio, joining partners British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and Brookfield. The assets will be managed under a new joint venture, Northview Energy, which plans to invest up to an additional $1.5 billion in future renewable projects across the US and Canada.