Pangang Group Starts Trial of New Vanadium Electrolyte Line for Energy Storage

[SMM Titanium Spot Flash: Titanium Dioxide Prices Surged Strongly, Titanium Concentrate Came Under Pressure and Pulled Back, with Cost Support and Inventory Dynamics Dominating the Market] This week, prices in China’s titanium dioxide market continued to rise, with anatase and rutile grades raised by 400 yuan/mt and 150 yuan/mt, respectively. Multiple enterprises withheld sales after closing orders, and bullish sentiment remained strong in the market. Sulphuric acid prices continued to climb, with the SMM smelting acid index reaching 1,235.5 yuan/mt, providing strong cost support. Meanwhile, titanium concentrate prices dropped back slightly, as elevated inventory in the Panxi region, combined with titanium dioxide enterprises pushing for lower prices, led ore prices for 46% and 47% grades to be cut by 50 yuan/mt, respectively. Overall, titanium dioxide remained firm on cost support, while titanium concentrate was constrained by inventory and price-cut pressure, leaving the market in a diverging trend.

In the spot market, high-priced long-term contracted cargoes arrived at ports in the early stage with high cargo receiving costs. Domestic traders showed a strong willingness to prop up prices, driving continuous hikes in chromite quotations. However, downstream demand remained sluggish. Coupled with persistently high shipments and a notable inventory build-up, selling pressure intensified, slowing the upward momentum of spot chromite prices.

[Multiple Bearish Factors Stall the Uptrend; China’s Tantalum Market Undergoes Short-Term Adjustment While Medium and Long-Term Support Remains Solid] Recently, the sustained upward momentum in China’s tantalum products market came to a halt, with the overall market entering a phase of temporary consolidation and adjustment. Upward momentum slowed markedly in the short term, mainly due to three core factors: the transmission of macro sentiment, changes in circulating supply, and weakening raw material costs.