SMM News: On September 16, the Pr-Nd alloy was quoted at 700,000-710,000 yuan/mt, down by 5,000 yuan/mt compared with September 15. On September 17, the Pr-Nd alloy was quoted at 695,000-705,000 yuan/mt, a decrease of 5,000 yuan/mt. The Pr-Nd alloy market experienced two consecutive declines after a rapid rise. Behind the declines, the end of rigid demand and the lack of sustained demand growth support were undoubtedly the most important factors. 

Iron ore futures held up well today, with the most-traded contract I2601 closing at 804.5, down 0.12% from the previous trading day. Traders showed moderate willingness to sell, while steel mills mainly purchased as needed. Market trading sentiment was moderate.

On September 12, 2025, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration issued a notice on the "Action Plan for Large-Scale Construction of New-Type Energy Storage (2025–2027)," explicitly listing solid-state batteries as a key technology for development and promoting their large-scale growth through technological breakthroughs, demonstration applications, and standard establishment. The policy aims to achieve large-scale application of semi-solid-state batteries and finalize the technology for all-solid-state batteries by 2027, helping to boost new-type ESS installations to over 180 million kW and drive direct investment of approximately 250 billion yuan.

Looking ahead, as overseas demand enters the peak season, overseas prices are expected to rise further, restoring normal domestic-overseas price spreads. Although tax-free orders may decrease, tax-included prices remain competitive, and orders should steadily return to normal levels. As SMM currently observes, some state-owned steel mills have seen improved orders due to reduced price disruptions from such practices, while traders avoiding them are actively seeking other orders to compensate.  

Forging or purchasing customs clearance documents from other import and export firms refers to an export method where enterprises or individuals without export rights purchase a set of legitimate export declaration documents from import and export companies with operating rights to export goods and declare them to customs

SMM Steel, September 16 - According to SMM statistics, the estimated total resource shipments in mainstream markets this week were 231,500 mt, down 2.73% WoW. By market:

Iron ore futures held up well today, with the most-traded contract I2601 closing at 803.5, up 0.82% WoW. Traders showed moderate enthusiasm in selling, while steel mills mainly purchased as needed. The market trading atmosphere was moderate.

As of September 16, the operating rate of 50 EAF steel mills mainly producing construction materials nationwide was 38.5%, down 1.22% from the previous period; the capacity utilization rate was 39.03%, down 1.79% from the previous period; the daily average production of construction materials was 86,900 mt, down 4,000 mt from the previous period.