US Ex-Im Bank Offers $225M Financing for South Crofty Tin Mine with Supply Condition

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 27 Mar , 2026

Recently, the team led by Meng Qingbo at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, once again set a new record in new-type thin-film PV copper-zinc-tin-sulfur-selenium (CZTSSe) technology, raising the battery’s certified efficiency to 16.6%, marking the technology’s official crossing of the critical threshold for industrialisation from 15 to 16. Composed of common, low-cost elements such as copper, zinc, and tin, CZTSSe materials not only avoid reliance on rare metals but also offer strong resistance to space radiation. At present, the team has also completed the development of high performance flexible batteries and modules, and this technology is expected to achieve large-scale application in fields such as low-Earth-orbit satellite internet, space-based energy bases, and aerospace equipment in the future. This progress not only established China’s internationally leading position in this field, but also opened up strategic, high-value-added application prospects for tin metal in new energy and deep-space exploration.

Disruptions to shipping routes and the Strait of Hormuz are tightening sulfuric acid supplies. The Middle East accounts for about 24% of global sulfur output, with nearly 40% of seaborne sulfur passing through Hormuz. Chile’s main suppliers—China, Peru and South Korea—are affected, pushing spot prices up nearly 20% since early 2026. Chile is advancing domestic smelter projects to reduce import reliance and secure supply.