[SMM Aluminum Express News] Indonesia and Russia are strengthening industrial cooperation through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Indonesian Industrial Estates Association (HKI) with two Russian institutions: the Foreign Trade Centre (FTC) and the Association of Industrial Parks of Russia (AIP). The signing took place on December 8, 2025, in Moscow during the Indonesia-Russia Business Forum and Matching. HKI Chairman Akhmad Ma’ruf Maulana highlighted significant opportunities in industrial estate collaboration, particularly in priority sectors such as energy (oil and gas), mining, and transportation infrastructure. The MoUs aim to facilitate investments, information exchange, capacity building, and potential co-development projects, boosting export diversification and technological transfers.

Teck Resources and Anglo American said on December 15 that they have received regulatory approval from the Government of Canada under the Investment Canada Act for their previously announced merger of equals, paving the way for the creation of Anglo Teck, a global critical minerals group headquartered in Canada. As part of the approval, Anglo American and Teck have agreed to a set of binding commitments, including a minimum C$4.5 billion investment in Canada over the first five years. Planned spending will include the Highland Valley Copper mine life extension, expansion of critical minerals processing capacity at Trail, and advancement of the Galore Creek and Schaft Creek copper projects in northwestern British Columbia. Total investment in Canada is expected to reach at least C$10 billion over 15 years. Both companies said the merger would establish a global critical minerals champion with significant scale and long-term investment commitments in Canada. Teck CEO Jonathan Price said the approval represents a key step toward completing the transaction, while Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad noted the merger follows shareholder approvals from both companies earlier this month. The merger was approved by shareholders of both companies on December 9, 2025. Completion remains subject to customary conditions, including additional regulatory approvals in other jurisdictions. Competition approvals have already been secured in Canada and Australia, with other reviews ongoing.

Turkey's Ministry of Trade has released the final disclosure report on its anti-dumping investigation into cold-rolled stainless flat steel imports from China and Indonesia (Jan 2021 – Dec 2023). The report concludes that imports from China were dumped, causing price pressure and negatively impacting the domestic market, with dumping margins set between 3.95% and 13.47% for various Chinese companies. In contrast, the dumping margin for Indonesian exporter IRNC was found to be below the de minimis level, meaning no duties will be applied to Indonesian imports.

[Metallium Collaborates with ElementUSA to Develop Gallium-Scandium Products] Australian metal recycling enterprise Metallium has partnered with US waste management enterprise ElementUSA to plan the recovery of gallium, scandium, and other critical minerals from red mud in Louisiana. Among these, Metallium's exclusive flash Joule heating (FJH) technology will be applied in the demonstration facility being developed by ElementUSA in Gramercy, Louisiana.

Metallium, an Australian metal recycling company, and ElementUSA, a US waste management firm, will collaborate to recover gallium, scandium, and other critical minerals from red mud in Louisiana. Metallium’s proprietary flash joule heating (FJH) technology will be deployed at a demonstration facility developed by ElementUSA in Gramercy, Louisiana.

SMM Express: Today, domestic steel export offers mostly held steady, with some raising by $1/mt. Most export orders were scheduled for shipment in January-February. Since the export license incident was announced, the market has been in a wait-and-see mode, and trading during the day tended to be mediocre. However, buying interest was heard to reemerge today, with inquiry activity in the market improving, and some traders were still rushing to meet shipment deadlines.

A mining company from Utah claims to have discovered a massive deposit of rare earths and other critical metals, describing it as potentially "one of the largest deposits in North America discovered to date." Ionic Mineral Technologies (IMT) announced last week that sample analysis from its Silicon Ridge project in Utah confirmed it as a halloysite-controlled ion-adsorption deposit, which is easier to extract compared to traditional "hard-rock" lithium ore. The company stated that ion-adsorption rare earth deposits account for over 70% of the world's heavy rare earth resources. Additionally, the deposit is not only rich in rare earths but also contains gallium, germanium, rubidium, cesium, scandium, lithium, vanadium, tungsten, and niobium.

SMM Steel, December 16 – According to SMM statistics, the estimated total resource shipments in mainstream markets this week reached 287,800 mt, up 54.48% WoW from last week’s shipment level.

Nyrstar announced on December 15 that it has entered into an agreement with Korea Zinc regarding a transaction involving the East Tennessee and Middle Tennessee mining complexes and the Clarksville zinc smelter in the US state of Tennessee, which are currently owned or operated by Nyrstar. Under the terms of the proposed deal, Korea Zinc plans to acquire the fully permitted sites in Tennessee and develop a new large-scale, fully integrated smelting facility in Clarksville. The transaction remains subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the first half of 2026. Under the agreement, zinc metal production from the Clarksville smelter in 2026 will continue to be sold to Trafigura. The Clarksville smelter is currently the only primary zinc smelter in the United States and has been in operation for nearly 50 years. Together with the associated East and Middle Tennessee mining complexes, the assets form a key domestic US mine-to-metals value chain. The operations benefit from highly skilled workforce, favourable geological and operating conditions, strong logistics and relatively low power costs, which add to the overall asset value. Nyrstar will continue to invest in its smelting operations in Australia and Europe, while working closely with the US administration to support the development of critical minerals supply chains. This includes continued support for the US–Australia Critical Minerals and Rare Earth Project Pipeline.

Indian PV manufacturer Emmvee Photovoltaic Power Limited is accelerating its integrated capacity expansion plans, aiming to add 6GW of PV cell and module production capacity. The company has secured factory land in Bangalore, Karnataka, with the project expected to commence operations in the first half of 2028. Emmvee stated that the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has allocated industrial land in Devanahalli for the construction of its new photovoltaic manufacturing base. The project is scheduled for completion and commencement of operations in the first half of 2028.