Silicon Trading Improves before Holiday, SMM Reports

As of September 18, 2026, China's total chrome ore inventory at ports fell to 5.181 million mt, down 136,300 mt (-2.56%) from 5.318 million mt on September 11, marking the first weekly draw after two straight weeks of buildup. Tianjin Port accounted for nearly the entire pullback, dropping 123,400 mt (-2.63%) to 4.562 million mt, still 88.1% of the national total and essentially unchanged in share from the prior week. Qinzhou plus Fangchenggang eased a further 2,900 mt (-0.70%) to 409,300 mt, while Chongqing posted the sharpest proportional decline, down 10,000 mt (-11.11%) to 80,000 mt. Lianyungang, Shanghai, the smaller Caofeidian-grouped ports and Zhanjiang were all unchanged week-on-week, meaning the entire national draw was concentrated between Tianjin, Qinzhou/Fangchenggang and Chongqing. The draw at Tianjin lines up with a modest but real improvement in downstream sentiment. High-carbon ferrochrome's weekly average slipped again for the week ended September 11, to RMB 7,850 per 50mt basis ton, down RMB 50, extending the multi-month softening on oversupply. But stainless steel futures snapped a five-week losing streak over September 14-18, edging up as collapsing nickel costs handed mills back some margin, a shift that likely nudged Inner Mongolia's ferrochrome producers, the main consumers of Tianjin-warehoused ore, toward more active drawdown of port stocks ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays. That said, a parallel read-across from this week's manganese ore market, where pre-holiday stockpiling was described as falling short of expectations, suggests the pull is real but not aggressive, consistent with a moderate rather than sharp reversal here. On the supply side, the pullback also coincides with the likely landing window for cargoes that left South African and Mozambican ports in mid-August, when departures fell more than 37% week-on-week in back-to-back weeks, a thinner inbound pipeline that would have compounded the draw just as onshore demand ticked up

[ADC12 Price Daily Commentary: Aluminum Alloy Futures Retreat after Rapid Rise, Spot Quotes Remain Stable] The most-traded AD2611 cast aluminum alloy contract opened at 23,765 yuan/mt today. After touching a high of 23,795 yuan/mt in early trading, it moved sideways at elevated levels, and closed at 23,670 yuan/mt at midday, the intraday low, down 60 yuan, or 0.25%, from yesterday's settlement price.

SMM News, Sep 21: Market information shows a recent tender auction for germanium concentrate in Shaoguan was successfully concluded. Market sources reported the final transaction price exceeded RMB 27,100 per kilogram. Market participants commented that such high prices for germanium raw materials will pose a challenge to production costs of downstream germanium products going forward.