SMM Tin Morning Briefing, March 11, 2026:
Futures: The most-traded SHFE tin contract maintained a fluctuating trend around the 400,000 mark during the night session, closing at 397,960 yuan/mt, up 0.61%.
Macro: (1) According to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter said that BYD is studying a move into competitive motorsports, including Formula One (F1) and endurance racing, to enhance its global appeal. Amid rapid expansion in overseas markets and the continued transition of motorsports toward hybrid engines, BYD is evaluating multiple options. The sources said these events include the World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and F1, and the company is expected to achieve this goal by forming its own team or through acquisitions. One of the sources said the potential cost of entering F1 could become a major obstacle for BYD. Developing a race car and entering competition usually requires years of negotiations, and the cost for a single season could be as high as $500 million. (2) On the evening of March 10, NIO CFO Qu Yu said during the conference call for the company's 2025 Q4 and full-year financial results that in 2026, the company will maintain quarterly R&D investment of 2 billion to 2.5 billion yuan, continue improving R&D efficiency based on the CBU operating mechanism, and will also dynamically adjust the pace and investment of the company's R&D according to operating conditions and the ROI mechanism, so as to ensure the intensity of investment in key products and core technologies. At the same time, Qu Yu said that based on the fact that the company has five large SUVs on sale this year, as well as the strong gross margin performance of large vehicles, NIO will strive to achieve full-year Non-GAAP profitability in 2026.
Fundamentals: (1) Supply side: In March, most smelters are expected to gradually resume production and work, ending the holiday state. (2) Demand side: Downstream procurement remained relatively cautious. Downstream enterprises will gradually begin to resume production and work, but orders were relatively mediocre.
Spot market: Yesterday, market trading sentiment was relatively light, and most downstream enterprises continued to digest inventories. During the traditional peak consumption season of "Golden March and Silver April" in previous years, demand performance this year fell short of expectations. Under the inflation trend, overseas end-use consumption remained cautious, and the pace of demand transmission across all links of the industry chain was relatively slow.
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