Report: Shandong Fengyuan to expand cathode materials capacity in 2019

[SMM Analysis:The supply of copper raw materials falling short of expectations has led to the continuous depletion of the inventory of copper anode] This week, the General Administration of Customs announced the import data of copper concentrate in March. In March 2025, the import volume of copper concentrate was 2.394 million tons, an increase of 2.7% year-on-year. From January to March 2025, China's cumulative import of copper concentrate was 7.108 million tons. In addition, considering the domestic supply of copper concentrate from January to March, the import volume of copper anode from January to February, the expected import volume of copper anode in March, the import volume of copper scrap from January to February, and the expected import volume of copper scrap in March.

After the COMEX price surged in May 2024, the LME-COMEX price spread significantly widened, leading to changes in global copper cathode trade flows. Entering 2025, due to expectations of Trump's tariffs, global large traders shipped all deliverable sources to the US, reducing the amount of copper cathode imports that would have come to China.

To better serve as a benchmark for spot prices in the nickel, cobalt, manganese, and new energy industries, and to assist the market in optimizing order signing mechanisms, SMM, after a period of consolidation and market survey, plans to advance the release time of some prices starting from March 24, 2025

[SMM Analysis: Can the successive relaxation of export policies for copper concentrates from Indonesia and Panama save the Chinese market?]According to SMM, the Indonesian government announced on Monday that it has issued a 6-month copper concentrate export license to Freeport Indonesia. Today, Freeport Indonesia announced that it has obtained an export license for 1.27 million dmt of cu cons from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade, which means that ships carrying Freeport copper concentrate from Papua port are allowed to start shipping. Meanwhile, on March 13th, the President of Panama announced that he had approved the export of 120,000 dmt of Cobre Panama cu cons.

According to SMM data, starting from March 6, 2025, SMM mainstream copper cathode social warehouse inventories began consecutive destocking, with a total reduction exceeding 20,000 mt over the past three statistical periods. As of March 14, 2025, domestic copper cathode inventories totaled 345,500 mt, down 33,600 mt YoY, indicating that the destocking turning point in 2025 arrived earlier than in 2024.

On January 2, 2025, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a file titled “Notice on Adjustments to the Public Consultation for the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Exporting from China.” The notice mentions the potential implementation of export restrictions on battery and lithium processing related technologies. The deadline for feedback submission is February 1, 2025.

The management team confirms that the company has been in negotiations with potential long-term off-takers.

[SMM Analysis: LMFP Market Stable in September, Average Price and Production Down MoM] In September, LMFP prices fluctuated within a stable range due to limited current market demand, putting pressure on prices. On the production side, LMFP production slightly decreased in September.

Shanghai base metals basically went up in the overnight trading after an agreement was reached between democratic and republican parties on Biden’s 579 billion infrastructure plan. LME base metals mostly increased as well.

Shanghai base metals all went up on Wednesday night as the US June Markit PMI for manufacturing industry registered 62.6. LME base metals all rose as well.