Improved orders grow operating rates at zinc die-casting producers in Apr

NewPhotonics and Tower Semiconductor announced high-volume shipments of laser-integrated optical engines for AI infrastructure. The 800G and 1.6T PICs use Tower’s PH18DA silicon-photonics platform with heterogeneously integrated InP components, enabling lasers, SOAs, modulators and photodetectors on one chip. Volume shipments of 6.4T NPO chipsets are planned for H1 2027. SMM believes this signals that AI optical-interconnect demand is translating into InP device demand, supporting high-purity indium consumption. However, shipment volumes and InP intensity were not disclosed, so the near-term indium uplift cannot yet be quantified.

Blue Moon Metals announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the Turner copper-gold VMS deposit in Oregon from Gold Coast Mining. Consideration comprises US$4.7 million in cash, 4,778,761 Blue Moon shares valued at about US$27 million based on the 20-day VWAP, and up to US$7 million in milestones tied to underground exploration/development permitting, mining permits and commercial production. Closing is expected in November 2026, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval and customary conditions. Turner is a past-producing Cyprus-type VMS deposit containing copper, gold, zinc, silver and cobalt. Its 2010 historical estimate reported 2.447 million short tons of Indicated material grading 2.65% zinc and 2.084 million short tons of Inferred material grading 2.78% zinc. The company expects permitting for exploration drilling and underground development to take 12–18 months.

[Poor end-use demand performance, zinc oxide operating rate edges down] From the perspective of end-use demand performance, in the rubber-grade zinc oxide sector, tire enterprise orders are generally weak, and purchases of zinc oxide remain just-in-time; orders in the desulfurization field perform poorly, with demand remaining sluggish...