News

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.

The General Office of the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government issued the Implementation Plan of Guangzhou for Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Artificial Intelligence Industry. It proposed focusing on advancing the R&D and promotion of intelligent hardware products such as intelligent connected vehicles, intelligent unmanned systems, whole-home intelligent terminals, intelligent wearable devices, industrial intelligent terminals, and brain-computer interfaces; promoting the application of large in-vehicle edge-side models; and supporting the development of AIoT systems featuring collaboration among home appliances, central control systems, and sensors. It also called for advancing the commercialization of embodied AI robots, supporting enterprises in independently developing core parts, and expanding the application of intelligent robots in fields such as industrial manufacturing, household services, and healthcare.

[SMM Tin Midday Commentary: Technical Recovery Coupled with Expectations of a Temporary Easing in Geopolitical Tensions Drives a Rebound in Tin Prices]

According to SMM, the cost side of the enamelled wire industry has remained under pressure recently. Driven by rising crude oil prices, insulating varnish prices increased by more than 20%, leaving enamelled wire enterprises facing a sharp rise in raw material costs that was difficult to pass on to downstream customers, further squeezing profit margins.

This week (March 20–March 26), the operating rate of machines in China’s enamelled wire industry pulled back 0.2 percentage points MoM to 88.73%. Affected by weakening home appliance demand and fluctuations in copper prices, new orders this week pulled back 11.19 percentage points MoM, downstream pick-up of goods slowed down, finished product inventories edged up to 7.47 days, and enterprises were generally concerned about the order outlook for April.

[SMM Tin Morning Briefing: The Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Opened Sharply Lower in the Night Session and Then Rebounded in Volatile Trading, While Trading in the Spot Market Remained Subdued]

[SMM Tin Brief Review: Repeated Shifts in Macro Sentiment Put Pressure on Nonferrous Metals, and Tin Prices Pulled Back and Remained in the Doldrums]

[SMM Tin Morning Comment: The Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Maintained a Fluctuating Trend After Opening Slightly Higher in the Night Session, Spot Market Transactions Showed Mediocre Performance]

[SMM Tin Brief Commentary: Improving Macro Sentiment Boosted the Nonferrous Metals Sector, Tin Prices Rebounded in the Short Term but Support Remained Insufficient]

Russia’s MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC is betting on artificial intelligence as part of a $100 million push to find additional uses for palladium as electric vehicles erode the metal’s main source of demand.Nornickel, the world’s biggest palladium producer, aims to create 1.7 million ounces of new annual consumption for the metal. That’s equivalent to almost a fifth of existing demand.

Rio Tinto aims to open Arizona’s Resolution Copper mine by the mid-2030s but may need to export some of its copper concentrate due to the challenging economics of smelting in the US, a senior executive told Reuters on Tuesday.The Anglo-Australian mining giant this month gained control of acreage needed to build one of the world’s largest copper mines after a years-long court fight in which rising US demand for the red metal clashed with the religious rights of the San Carlos Apache people.

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 25 Mar , 2026

Arm (ARM.O), known for licensing technology to semiconductor manufacturers, will for the first time begin selling its own chips, aiming to capture a larger share of the massive spending on artificial intelligence devices. At an event in San Francisco on Tuesday, Arm said that Meta would be the primary client for its first chip, the AGI CPU. Arm said the product would have up to 136 cores, a measure of processing power, and consume 300 watts of power. TSMC will manufacture the chips. Following the announcement, Arm's U.S.-listed shares once surged to an intraday high.

[SMM Midday Tin Commentary: Improving Macro Sentiment Drove a Rebound in Tin Prices, While Follow-Through in Spot Transactions Remained Limited]