"blockbuster metal industry conferences are packed with bosses.
[macro outlook] focus on China's foreign exchange reserve data in March
[overnight market] the general rise of metals spurred a 3.8% rise in Shanghai and tin on the news that fuming furnaces in Yunnan had stopped production.
Last Friday, the outer plate was closed during the Easter holiday, and most of the metals in the inner plate rose, of which the main force of Shanghai tin rose 3.8%. The news that the fuming furnace was stopped due to the arrival of the environmental protection inspection team in Yunnan in April made the market once again worried about the supply of tin raw materials in the coming period of time. Shanghai tin rose, and it is expected that the market will continue to absorb the impact of production reduction on supply in the short term. The dollar index rebounded slightly. March employment data released by the Labor Department on Friday showed that the US non-farm sector added 916000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate fell to 6 per cent, the biggest increase in the US job market since August last year. The Labor Department said the labor market showed "general growth" in March, reflecting the continued recovery of the US economy from the impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic. U. S. bond yields rose with the dollar, boosted by better-than-expected employment data.
Last Friday, the A-share index fluctuated horizontally in the afternoon, and the market was still in a state of contraction, with individual stocks rising by half and rising by more than 9% and more than 80 stocks, but it was difficult to operate. On the plate, mainly spirits and other holding stocks continue to rebound to drive the index higher, the concept of carbon neutralization ebbs across the board, the electric power plate leads the decline, and rear-row stocks such as Xuedilong fall by the limit at the end of the day, the disk performance is messy, hot spots move quickly, stimulated by news, semiconductors lead the rise throughout the day, and concepts such as digital currency, network celebrities, second new, papermaking, and Beijing Universal Studios have been pulled up one after another. As a whole, the market continues to shrink and rise, so we should pay attention to the realization of the profit after the rebound of the plate rotation. On the market, semiconductors, hotels, spirits and other sectors led the rise, while electricity, mining services, iron and steel and other plates led the decline.
Macro focus
[Xi Jinping: increase forest area, improve forest quality, enhance ecosystem carbon sequestration] State President Xi Jinping pointed out that the new development stage has put forward higher requirements for the construction of ecological civilization, and great efforts must be made to promote green development and strive to lead the trend of world development. We should firmly establish the concept that green water and green mountains are Jinshan and Silver Mountains, unswervingly take the road of ecological priority and green development, increase forest area, improve forest quality, and enhance the increment of carbon sequestration in the ecosystem, so as to make greater contributions to the realization of China's carbon peak carbon neutralization goal and the maintenance of global ecological security.
[development and Reform Commission: all industry associations should speed up the revision of the mandatory energy consumption quota system] on the morning of April 1, the Environmental Resources Department of the National Development and Reform Commission attended a working meeting on the promotion of national mandatory energy consumption quota standards. The meeting stressed that the formulation and implementation of mandatory energy consumption quota standards is a clear provision of the Energy Saving Law, and industry associations should speed up the revision of the relevant mandatory energy consumption quota standards. to provide strong support for achieving the goals of carbon peak, carbon neutralization and energy consumption control.
[more than 550 billion yuan tax cut "gift package" is coming, more small and micro enterprises "light". The executive meeting of the State Council held on March 31 identified preferential tax policies to further support small and micro enterprises, individual industrial and commercial households, and advanced manufacturing industries. The above policies, together with the preferential tax policies that have been introduced, are expected to increase the tax reduction by more than 550 billion yuan for the whole year. One of the policies is to raise the value-added tax threshold for small-scale taxpayers, such as small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households, from 100000 yuan to 150000 yuan from April 1 this year to the end of next year.
According to IMF data, global foreign exchange reserves rose to a record high of US $12.7 trillion in the fourth quarter of last year, while the proportion of US dollars in foreign exchange reserves fell to the lowest level since 1995, while the share of RMB continued to rise to the highest level since the third quarter of 2016. Global foreign exchange reserves rose to a record high of $12.7 trillion in the fourth quarter of last year, up 3.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter, according to (COFER) quarterly data. Of this total, the US dollar accounted for 59%, down 1.5% from quarter to quarter, and the proportion fell for the third consecutive quarter, the lowest since 1995. According to the data, the proportion of the dollar was 58% in 1995 and 73% in 2001.
[102 million domestic tours during the Qingming Festival Holiday] according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, combining the data of local culture and tourism departments, communication operators, and online travel service providers, according to the data center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ching Ming Festival's holiday in 2021, the number of domestic tourism trips nationwide increased by 144.6% year on year, returning to 94.5% of that in the same period before the epidemic. Domestic tourism revenue reached 27.168 billion yuan, an increase of 228.9% over the same period last year, returning to 56.7% of that in the same period before the epidemic.
Today's focus
[SMM analysis: the import window has been closed for a long time and the Yangshan copper premium has not seen a bottom] the foreign trade copper market has been light for more than a month. Last week, the market activity was still low, and the Yangshan copper premium fell endlessly, mainly because the weaker price directly suppressed import demand. Last week, the import window was still closed, with a loss of around 500 yuan / ton. "check the details."
[SMM analysis: LME copper spot futures structure narrowed to near Pingshui Contango structure can be expected] the decline of Back structure projected more demand performance is not satisfactory. The rapid rise in copper prices after the return of the Lunar New year has deterred downstream enterprises from purchasing. After copper prices have entered the volatile market, the buying interest in the lower reaches is still insufficient, and the wait-and-see mood is strong; superimposed scrap copper occupies refined copper consumption, and domestic copper consumption performance is poor. Import parity is also difficult to open. While the European side fell into the shadow of the epidemic again in the first quarter, the further extension of the blockade measures may continue to have an impact on manufacturing activities in the second quarter. In this case, copper diversion to LME delivery is a feasible option. "check the details."
[SMM analysis: Biden administration pushes ahead with 2 trillion yuan infrastructure plan temptation bullish copper futures are expected to stay high in April] US data were warmer during the week, with strong growth in new orders, manufacturing PMI64.7 reaching its highest level since 1983, ADP data the highest since September last year, and non-farm payrolls rising by 916000, the biggest increase since August last year. The dollar index remained high around 93.4 until the market left cautiously before Friday due to holiday factors, and the follow-up new infrastructure plan in the United States became the latest bait for bulls. "check the details."
[SMM analysis: the southern cable market has now consumed "Xiaoyangchun", how is the performance of the northern market? Since mid-March, there have been obvious signs of recovery in the southern cable market, with companies saying that with a slight correction in copper prices, downstream engineering companies have followed up to place orders, mainly from consumer support from real estate and infrastructure. Among them, the orders of control cables, civil cloth wires, home decoration lines, and medium and high voltage transmission and transformer lines in the southern cable market have warmed up most obviously, and the operating rate of enterprises has also rebounded to varying degrees. Even some cable enterprises have a small stock in front of Ching Ming Festival, driving the copper rod enterprises in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to show signs of going to the warehouse. Some enterprises are expected to reach full production in April. "check the details.
[SMM Analysis: aluminum bar processing fees hovered low in the first quarter, what will be the performance in the second quarter? It can also be seen from the recent output of aluminum bars that the growth rate of domestic aluminum rod output accelerated after mid-March, reaching a three-year high of 70900 tons in the week of March 15, and then remained high at more than 65000 tons. At the same time, aluminum bar holders respond that at present, aluminum prices are high and the spot performance of aluminum ingots is relatively weak, while the rebound in processing fees will focus more on aluminum bars. April of previous years is the peak season for aluminum bar consumption. At this time, the processing fee is not quite when to check the details.
[SMM analysis: the price of petroleum coke and electrolytic aluminum carrying pre-baked anode hit a record high] looking back on the domestic pre-baked anode market in the first quarter, the domestic pre-baked anode market was limited by environmental protection from January to February, and the supply was relatively scarce in some areas due to the epidemic situation in some areas. production increased in some areas in March, the overall domestic supply was loose, aluminum plants were actively stocking, overseas demand was stable, and the supply and demand of pre-baked anodes was balanced. The price of the pre-baked anode market in the first quarter was supported by cost, but the overall gross profit of the company rebounded steadily. "check the details.
[SMM Analysis: thinking about the Development Direction of the Future recycled Aluminum Industry] because carbon neutralization has been proposed since the two sessions, and because electrolytic aluminum, as a major energy consumption, has been pushed into the forefront of the wind and waves, under this background, recycled aluminum can gradually enter the public view because of substantial energy saving and carbon reduction from raw materials. So for the traditional recycled aluminum industry, what is the future development direction? The author summarizes two directions here for your reference. First, from the point of view of recycling channels, to improve the original recycling of deformed aluminum. The second is to improve the performance of traditional cast alloys so as to make them jump out of the original single fuel automobile field. "check the details."
[SMM survey: a brief description of the current situation of production and orders of die-casting enterprises under the high aluminum price shock in March] under the high aluminum price shock in March, aluminum die-casting enterprises are still facing the pressure of raw material cost, which is still dominated by rigid demand or buying at a bargain, and the inventory level of raw materials is low. In terms of orders, there is a differentiation among different industries. Due to the influence of "lack of core" in the automobile industry, the number of enterprise orders for the production of spare parts has decreased, while power tools and household appliances have rebounded slightly. In addition to the "lack of core" and the high price of aluminum, the growth of orders is restricted. At present, the downstream demand is OK, and the production of enterprises is more normal. "check the details.
[SMM Analysis] Customs data show that China imported 13600 tons of aluminum foil from January to February 2021, an increase of 29.42 percent over the same period last year. Of these, Japan imported 7700 tons, accounting for 56.48%, and South Korea imported 3500 tons, accounting for 25.36%.
[SMM analysis: 166100 tons of aluminum wheel exports from January to February 2021.] China's aluminum wheel export countries are very concentrated. The three major aluminum wheel exporters in 2019, 2020 and 2021 are the United States, Japan and Mexico. The combined proportion of aluminum wheel exports of the three countries is 70.56%, 73.4% and 67.35% respectively. "check the details.
[SMM survey: the weekly operating rate of lead-acid battery enterprises entering the traditional off-season continues to decline] according to SMM research, the weekly comprehensive operating rate of lead-acid battery enterprises in the five provinces of SMM last week (March 29-April 2) was 78.04%, which was 0.23% lower than last week (March 26). "check the details.
SMM observation: how does the market react when lead prices rise first and then fall? Last week, the dollar index continued to fluctuate at a high level, with London lead trading at $1945 to $1986.5 per tonne and was closed on Friday for Easter. This week Lun lead went to the warehouse 3875 tons in the week, promoting Lun lead to stop falling and shaking, and fell back after the first record of three consecutive yangs. The 2105 contract of Shanghai lead runs at 14975-15475 yuan / ton, which rises first and then suppresses in the middle of the week. With the good news such as tightening expectations on the supply side caused by maintenance in April, almost all the gains at the beginning of the week were given back in the last two trading days before the festival, and the weekly K line recorded a long shadow line negative column. Shanghai lead is under pressure again, and the technical side is gradually changing from more to empty, approaching the first line of ten thousand five. "check the details."
[SMM analysis: environmental protection decompression VS cost pressurized zinc oxide enterprises to restore power slows] last week zinc oxide transaction price was about 20500-21100 yuan / ton. According to SMM research data, the operating rate of zinc oxide enterprises this week was 71.51%, up 0.19% from last week. This week, the production of zinc oxide enterprises is more stable as a whole, with a slight increase. In the first half of the week, zinc ingot prices soared, zinc oxide enterprises purchased less zinc ingots, superimposed zinc slag supply was tight, prices soared, small and medium-sized zinc oxide enterprises had limited procurement of raw materials, and continued to limit production; while the environmental protection policy in the north was loose, the output of some large northern zinc oxide factories increased, driving the overall operating rate of zinc oxide enterprises to rise steadily. "check the details.
[SMM analysis: zinc ingot fluctuations disturb the recovery process of zinc oxide enterprises after the year] since the beginning of 2020, zinc ingot prices have rebounded low and fluctuated higher. After 2000, zinc prices kept high and fluctuated with commodity prices rising all the way. Zinc slag prices based on zinc ingots prices have been singing all the way. Since the second half of last year, zinc slag prices have been shipped by competitive bidding. The pressure on zinc oxide enterprises with weak profits and weak bargaining power has increased, and the operating rate has remained relatively low since the end of the year. "check the details.
[SMM Analysis: strong reality and weak expectation Game predicts High Zinc Price volatility] for Shanghai zinc, domestic processing fees continue to fall, and the space is relatively limited. Short-term smelter production costs continue to rise, which will form a strong support for zinc prices. In terms of consumption, the export tax rebate policy, the high price of raw materials led to weak orders and other factors led to the market is not optimistic about April consumption. However, at present, the production situation of downstream enterprises is good, and bargain-hunting still drives zinc ingots to go to the warehouse on a large scale. "check the details.
[SMM research: this week the social inventory once again removes the zinc downstream to start slightly differentiated] Last week, galvanizing orders did not increase significantly, zinc prices fell in the second half of the week, enterprises are more enthusiastic about bargain buying, large factories are basically full production, galvanized tube orders are steadily rising, but production and marketing have not yet reached a balance, finished product inventory pressure is still high, but raw material prices are high, some enterprises raise processing fees for shipment; The terminal enterprise steel continues to rise after the year, and the price is still bullish, the enterprise passively gradually accepts the current price, the Jiangsu tower order increases slightly near the delivery date, and the northern scaffolding market continues to be hot. "check the details.
[SMM analysis: smelter overhaul increased and Guangdong zinc stock decreased in April] in March, the amount of zinc ingots in Guangdong warehouse was 30, 000 tons, a month-on-month decrease of 15000 tons, a decrease of 13600 tons compared with the same period last year. In April, the overhaul of smelters in Yunnan and Guangxi has increased, which will directly affect the arrival volume of zinc ingots in Guangdong market. We think that the arrival volume of Guangdong zinc ingots will continue to decline. "check the details.
[SMM analysis: stainless steel spot market fell slightly after SS contract probed high] at the beginning of last week, the trading atmosphere of stainless steel spot market was active, which promoted the SS contract to a certain extent. The SS contract rose to 14600 yuan / ton at the beginning of the week, but the top was close to the previous decline gap, and after the price was high, some contract warehouse receipts planned to deliver again, facing strong upward pressure under the superimposed influence, and then the SS contract fell down. As of Friday day close, quoted at 14270 yuan / ton "for details"
[SMM Research: Tianjin Lishen Battery of 2021 SMM New Energy Field Research] from March 24, 2021, the SMM New Energy team came to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and visited local lithium enterprises to investigate the production, operation and layout of Chinese lithium enterprises. On March 24th, Yi Yanting, director of SMM New Energy Research Department, Mei Wangqin, senior new energy analyst, and Yuan Ye, new energy analyst, came to Tianjin Lishen Battery Co., Ltd., located in Binhai High-tech Industrial Park, Xiqing District, Tianjin, for a site visit "to check the details."
[SMM analysis: the output of lithium iron phosphate fell slightly by 2.9% in February, and the market concentration is now declining slightly] according to data, the output of lithium iron phosphate cathode materials in China was 21320 tons in February 2021, down 2.9% from 21960 tons last month. An increase of 412.50% over the same period last year. In February, the overall market of lithium iron phosphate is still hot, the overall demand remains high, and most manufacturers' orders have been arranged after the Spring Festival, so there is no holiday to maintain full production during the Spring Festival. However, a small number of manufacturers have a small amount of holiday or equipment overhaul, and the number of production days in February is shorter, so there is a slight decline compared with 21960 tons in January. "check the details.
[SMM analysis: rare earth multi-product price shock downward praseodymium neodymium oxide fell below 580000 yuan / ton] Last week, the rare earth market shock weakened, many varieties of prices fell, neodymium oxide fell the most obvious, praseodymium neodymium oxide market shock is obvious, after a small rise quickly stabilized, some metal factories bargain procurement; The praseodymium-neodymium metal market is slightly more stable than praseodymium-neodymium oxide, which also reflects from the side that magnetic materials enterprises have lower acceptance of the current metal prices, fierce games between the upstream and downstream of the market, and a transaction stalemate; dysprosium oxide is relatively strong and the weekly average price is slightly higher. "check the details.
[SMM analysis: sulphuric acid prices soar sharply in April copper smelting losses are expected to further narrow] as of Friday (April 2), SMM copper concentrate index (week) to 30.83 U.S. dollars / ton, compared with last Friday continued to fall 1.07 U.S. dollars / ton, the market offer and transactions have increased this week, mostly in 20 high and 30 low. As the shipping problems in South America have come to an end, the shipments of new copper mine expansion projects have increased during the year, and the superimposed country is about to enter the peak period of overhaul. the enthusiasm of the smelters for inquiry of goods in the second quarter of the shipping season has declined. however, the bidding price of the mine is going down again and again, the pattern of the market game is difficult to resolve quickly in the short term, and the reversal of the spot TC still needs to wait for "to check the details."
[SMM analysis: review of the price of battery-grade nickel sulfate in March 2021] at the beginning of March 2021, the price of battery-grade nickel sulfate rose to an all-time high. On the one hand, supported by supply and demand, domestic nickel sulfate had been in stock for four consecutive months before March, and the spot supply was in short supply. On the other hand, supported by cost, the demand for nickel in the new energy industry increases month by month, but the supply of the main raw materials (intermediate products) of nickel sulfate is tight, and the increase in the consumption of pure nickel (refers to nickel beans) supports the rise in nickel prices. Subsequently, on March 3, Qingshan Industries announced that it would supply 60,000 tons of high matte to Huayou Cobalt and 40,000 tons of high matte to Zhongwei in one year from October 2021. The news means that the intermediate products of the main raw materials of nickel sulfate will be compensated, and the demand for pure nickel (mainly nickel beans) in the new energy industry will fall short of market expectations, driving the expectation of nickel prices to weaken.
[SMM analysis: iron-lithium battery future technology bottleneck large solid state + high nickel ternary will be the mainstream of the market] in 2021, more and more new models will be equipped with iron-lithium battery, and the radiation range of iron-lithium battery will gradually expand to SUV. However, from a technical point of view, the bottleneck of iron-lithium battery is larger in the future. With the technological breakthrough of ultra-high nickel ternary battery and cobalt-free battery, the energy density of Pack will be greatly increased, coupled with low cobalt and mature technology, the battery cost will be reduced, in addition, high nickel ternary or cobalt-free cathode materials are more suitable for solid-state batteries.
SMM analysis: what is the trend of lithium price in the off-season of 3C digital consumption in the second quarter? The demand side especially entered the second quarter in the first half of the year. Shipments of mobile phones, tablets and notebooks were affected by the off-season of consumption, orders weakened, and the demand for lithium cobalt decreased significantly, with an average demand reduction of 8-10% in May and June. In March 2021, according to incomplete statistics, China's lithium carbonate production in March was about 17720 tons, an increase of 49.8% month-on-month and 33.6% year-on-year, of which the increment mainly came from capacity climbing in Jiangxi and Qinghai. Chile was hit by the epidemic in April and the government decided to close the border from April 5 to May 1. International transportation is allowed only for urgent, humanitarian or medical reasons, and the shipping date is expected to be delayed to June, so there will be a significant reduction in China's port arrivals from the end of May to June. "check the details.
Important news of metals and industry
[SMM Analysis: Chile's closure may affect domestic lithium carbonate supply in the second quarter] Chile announced on April 1 local time that in response to the sharp increase in the number of cases caused by the coronavirus, the government decided to close the border from April 5 to May 1. International transport is allowed only for urgent, humanitarian or medical purposes. The Chilean border closure may lead to a delay in the shipment of Chinese imports. "check the details."
[SMM research: the rate of recycled lead production tightening accumulation is slowing down (with weekly production inventory data of 33 recycled lead smelters). According to the survey of SMM (SMM), as of April 2, 33 domestic recycled lead smelters have a weekly output of 59000 tons of recycled refined lead, a decrease of 1000 tons compared with last week (Warburg Platinum production was revised last week, with a total output of 60, 000 tons). In the refinery warehouse, the inventory of waste batteries totaled 177000 tons, an increase of 82000 tons over last Friday, and the inventory of reduced lead, recycled refined lead and alloy finished products totaled 30400 tons, an increase of 600 tons over last week.
[SMM recycled lead survey] according to the SMM (SMM) survey, this week (March 29th-April 2nd) SMM recycled lead smelting enterprises in the four provinces have a weekly operating rate of 53.39%, unchanged from last week. "check the details.
[SMM analysis: Tianjin zinc inventory continues to remove spot discount gradually narrowed] the spot price in Tianjin rebounded to near Pingshui. As of Friday, the mainstream ordinary brands basically discount 10 to 10 yuan / ton on 2105 contracts, Zijin, a high-priced brand, 50 million yuan / ton on May contracts, and Harbin Zinc (warehouse-free) on May contracts are quoted around 100 yuan / ton. Tianjin is flatter than Shanghai. "check the details.
[SMM monthly Outlook: March Shanghai lead first suppressed and then rose in April waiting for the follow-up peak season to stimulate price elasticity] looking forward to April, macroscopically, we need to pay attention to the release of various economic data indicators in Europe and the United States, as well as a speech by FOMC vote Committee and Atlanta Federal Reserve Chairman Bostick on "monetary policy during the epidemic" in 2021 and a speech by US President Joe Biden on economic vision. At present, the domestic epidemic does not have much impact on the price of lead, follow-up sustainable attention. On the whole, there is little new pressure on the supply side. Lead strategy suggests going long on bargain, waiting for the follow-up peak season to stimulate price elasticity. "check the details."
[SMM monthly outlook: nickel price wide volatility pattern still pays attention to nickel bean inventory key indicators] looking back at the overall nickel price in the first quarter of this year, the overall nickel price first rose and then suppressed and then fluctuated. At present, from the fundamental point of view, the driving force of nickel futures rise is not strong, short-term may still maintain interval shock operation, the gap above is large, nickel bean inventory is the key indicator of nickel price rise. "check the details.
[SMM Analysis: central Environmental Protection Supervision will restrict Tin Ingot production in April] A new round of Central Environmental Protection Supervision will be stationed soon, and all parties will be ready. As far as the tin market is concerned, it mainly affects the production of tin ingots in Yunnan. The environmental protection inspection team will be stationed in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province in early April, and some fuming furnaces in the tin smelter in Gejiu area have stopped production at the end of March. "check the details.
[SMM data: the stainless steel industry PMI index returned to the growth and decline line in March and is still expected to expand in April] in March 2021, the stainless steel industry PMI composite index was 51.58%, up 4.74% from the final value in February, and back above the growth and decline line. After the Spring Festival holiday in March, the market is in the range of resumption of expansion, production index and new order index return to above the rise and fall line, production index 51.41% "check the details."
[Australian court ordered Tianqi Lithium Industry to pay US $29 million to the court fund] on April 1, an Australian court ordered Tianqi Lithium Industry to pay 38.9 million Australian dollars, or about US $29 million, to the court fund. The order was issued because Tianqi Lithium Industry had refused to pay MSP Engineering of Perth, a battery-grade lithium processing plant in Western Australia, to build a lithium hydroxide plant. It is reported that Tianqi Lithium Industry believes that the cost of the project exceeds its previous budget. It is worth mentioning that Tianqi Lithium Industry proposed liquidity issues against the backdrop of lithium prices plummeting in 2020, but the work of Perth-based MSP Engineering came to a standstill because of this decision.
[Japan Tonghe Holdings expects copper production to fall 5.7 per cent in the first half of fiscal year 2021Ligue 22] Japan's Tonghe holding company (Dowa Holdings Co Ltd) estimated on Thursday that refined copper production in the first half of fiscal year 2021Ligue 22, which began this month, was 29285 tonnes, down 5.7 per cent from 31068 in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Production in the second half of fiscal year 2020 / 21 was 32443 tons. The company is expected to produce 82006 tons of refined zinc in the first half of fiscal year 2021, up from 76395 tons in the same period last year, and 93490 tons in the second half of fiscal year 2020. Refined lead production is expected to be 5403 tons in the first half of fiscal year 2021, up from 5242 tons in the same period in the previous fiscal year, and 6238 tons in the second half of fiscal year 2020.
[Vedanta plans to invest $1.4 billion to build a $1.4 billion copper smelter in India with an annual capacity of 500000 tons] mining company Vedanta (Vedanta) plans to build a copper smelter in India with a capacity of 500000 tons per year, with a potential investment of 100 billion rupees ($1.37 billion). The company has issued a letter of intent to partners in the Indian state government to find potential partners in the smelter. Mr Vedanta said they wanted to work with the state government to build a copper smelter off the coast of India. The project is expected to create nearly 10000 jobs, will require about 1000 acres of land close to the port and have logistics connectivity. Vedanta points out that India's demand for copper will double in the next few years. Having an adequate supply of copper is essential to ensure the successful implementation of a new generation of technologies such as electric vehicles, rapid automatic transport and clean energy.
[SAVANT: cost pressure continues to increase in March global copper smelting activity is at a multi-year low] SAVANT monitoring data show that global copper smelting activity in March fell to its lowest level since March 2016. The main reason is that there has been no rebound in Chinese smelting activity after the Lunar New year, while other regions have failed to make up for the decline. In March 2021, the average global copper smelter activity index was 39.8, the lowest monthly average ever. According to the SAVANT index, 50 indicates that smelter operations are at the average of the past 12 months. The China index fell to 40.7, its lowest level since August 2020, and the performance in the first quarter was very weak after hitting a record of 55.5 in December 2020. North America has begun to show early signs of recovery, but then fell back to weakness with a reading of 32.3, the lowest level since July last year (24.9).
[pan Pacific Copper plans to increase copper production by 3.3 per cent in the first half of fiscal year 2021] (Pan Pacific Copper), Japan's largest copper supplier, said on Friday that it planned to produce 303700 tons of refined copper in the first half of fiscal year 22, which began this month, up 3.3 per cent from 293900 tons in the same period last fiscal year. Copper production was 302900 tons in the second half of fiscal year 2020. JX Nissi Metal Co., Ltd. (JX Nippon Mining & Metals) owns 67.8% of Pan Pacific Copper and the remaining 32.2% is owned by Mitsui Mining and smelting company (Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co Ltd). Pan-Pacific Copper outsourced smelting and refining to parent plants.
[Homey New Materials: the new aluminum alloy project is expected to be gradually put into production by the end of June this year] it is expected that the new aluminum alloy project will be gradually put into production by the end of June this year, and the R & D center construction project will be completed and put into use by the end of the year. If there are any major changes in the follow-up construction period, the company will disclose it in time in accordance with the requirements.
[Jiangsu Iron and Steel Industry Association proposes to achieve carbon peak ahead of time during the 14th five-year Plan] Jiangsu Iron and Steel Industry Association issued the proposal for green and low-carbon development of Jiangsu iron and steel industry at the Green, low-carbon and High-quality Development Conference. The proposal proposes that the iron and steel industry in Jiangsu Province should unify its thinking, strive to achieve carbon peak ahead of time during the 14th five-year Plan period, achieve green, low-carbon and high-quality development of the iron and steel industry, and make due contributions.
[First Cobalt signed a production off-take agreement for Canada's Cobalt refinery] First Cobalt has signed an off-take agreement with Stratton Metal Resources in the United Kingdom for the future sale of 100% cobalt sulfate produced by the Ontario refinery in Canada. Under the five-year agreement, once the refinery enters the operational phase, First Cobalt will have the option to sell 100% of the annual sulfate production of its first cobalt refineries to Stratton Metals. However, First Cobalt needs to determine the quantity before the beginning of the year, and there is a minimum annual quantity limit.
[Jingye Group A blast furnace was officially ignited] on the afternoon of March 24, the ignition opening ceremony of Jingye Group A blast furnace was solemnly held at the site of No. A blast furnace in the southern district. Cadres at and above the ministerial level in the production system and representatives of Hebei Yecheng No. 5 Company, the construction unit of the No. A blast furnace, jointly witnessed this exciting moment. The southern district capacity replacement project is an industrial upgrading project implemented with the support of the county party committee and county government. The total investment of the project is 5.46 billion yuan.
[notice of Tangshan on issuing the key points of Safety Supervision of Metallurgical Building Materials Industry in 2021] strengthen the safety management of hazardous operations and foreign construction, popularize and apply safety management methods such as energy isolation and mechanical protection, promote the information construction of production safety, upgrade the level of safety equipment and facilities, strive to improve the basic level of safety management of metallurgical building materials enterprises in the city, strive to reduce general accidents, and strictly prevent major accidents. We will resolutely curb major and serious accidents, create a good safe production environment for the city's social and economic development, and greet and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party with outstanding achievements.
[Valin Steel: changes in the online export tax rebate policy are expected to have a limited impact on the company's performance] Valin Steel said it exported 646000 tons of steel in 2020, accounting for only 2.6 per cent of total sales in the same period. Among them, the export of seamless steel pipe more than 300,000 tons, wide and thick plate about 160000 tons, hot-rolled plate and other steel products export is very few. The change of export tax rebate policy spread online is expected to have a limited impact on the company's production, operation and performance.
Terminal information
The longest delay in the delivery of vehicle MCU chips is 9 months! This cooperation model has unexpectedly become the driving force behind the automobile "chip shortage". The outsourcing model adopted by automobile companies has "deeply bound" the supply of chips with suppliers such as TSMC, and the market situation will be deeply affected by any fluctuations in the market. At the beginning of the epidemic in 2020, many vehicle companies reduced their chip purchases, while the higher-than-expected global car sales in the third and fourth quarters of 2020 brought about a higher-than-expected demand for chips. However, automotive chips are mainly mature processes, with small elasticity of supply and weak bargaining power, so it is difficult for chip suppliers to quickly switch their production capacity to automotive chips when there is strong demand in other industries. Superimposed Japan, the United States and other chip suppliers' production capacity is affected by natural events, and it is even more difficult to quickly increase production in the global chip supply.
[Lixun Precision: the ability to provide automotive power solutions has covered many brand customers at home and abroad] Lixun Precision (002475) said on the interactive platform that the company has been in the automotive business sector for more than ten years. It has the ability to provide customers with automotive power solutions such as high voltage and high current, as well as related automotive wiring harness, electronic modules and other products and services, and now covers many brand customers at home and abroad. The management of the company is deeply close to the market, has a complete plan and layout for the short -, medium-and long-term development of the company, and is committed to achieving the long-term sustainable development of the company.
[German Nano: the price and cost of the company's lithium iron phosphate have increased, but the gross profit margin has increased] German Nano said on the interactive platform that with the rise of the main raw materials upstream, the price and cost of the company's lithium iron phosphate have increased, but the gross profit margin has increased.
[Tesla: 180000 cars were produced in the first quarter] Tesla announced that in the first quarter, 180000 cars were produced and nearly 185000 were delivered. Data show that Model S and Model X delivered 2020 vehicles in the first quarter. Model3 and Model Y delivered 182780 vehicles in the first quarter.
[the battery output of Shanghai Electric Nantong Energy Storage Plant is expected to reach 3GWh in 2021] the relevant person in charge of Shanghai Electric said that Shanghai Electric Nantong Energy Storage Plant was newly built by Shanghai Electric National Xuan and put into production in September 2020. the annual production capacity of the first phase of the project is 5GWh. the product is lithium iron phosphate energy storage battery and system, which aims to jointly develop the energy storage market. In 2021, the battery production of Shanghai Electric Nantong Energy Storage Plant is expected to reach 3 GWh. On the whole, the commissioning of Shanghai Electric Nantong energy storage plant fills the gap in Shanghai Electric's large-scale energy storage cell and system capacity, and is conducive to Shanghai Electric's involvement in large-scale energy storage projects such as Electroweb.
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