Kunming Rongke won auction for 3,609 mt Fanya indium stockpile with 2.85 billion yuan bid

This week, the industry chain continued to show overall weakness and divergence. Refined cobalt was affected by the consumption off-season and summer break; mainstream smelters lowered quotes to 335,000 yuan/mt, and downstream users maintained only essential restocking. The buy-sell price spread for intermediate products widened, tenders continued to fail, and market trading nearly stalled. Cobalt sulphate, cobalt chloride, Co3O4 and cobalt powder all fell under pressure; low-priced material increased, and market prices gradually converged toward actual transaction and cost ranges, leaving the market still in a bottoming phase in the near term. Ternary cathode precursor prices slid as nickel and cobalt salts weakened; production schedules recovered at top-tier players, but small and mid-sized producers remained constrained by the off-season. Supported by the rebound in lithium chemicals, peak-season stockpiling and European auto sales, ternary cathode material prices edged up slightly, and August orders were steady to slightly higher. LCO demand recovery remained slow, and price cuts did not noticeably boost shipments. Industry side, Sinomine Resource Group's lithium sulfate project in Zimbabwe entered full-scale construction, Hithium secured a 421 MWh energy storage project in Australia, and cooperation in the charging industry continued to advance.

【SMM Weekly Magnesium Review】This week, the mainstream offer of magnesium ingots in major production regions stands at RMB 15,900-16,000/ton, up RMB 100/ton week on week, with FOB offer at USD 2,250-2,350/ton. This round of magnesium ingot rally is driven by three factors: supply-side maintenance-led production cuts, rising costs of coal and ferrosilicon, and concentrated order fulfillment and restocking by traders. However, after the price hike, downstream players have developed reluctance to chase high prices, leading to dull transactions; the foreign trade sector remains weak, constrained by exchange rate fluctuations and unclear recovery of orders amid the summer break. The price of upstream dolomite stays stable with sufficient supply from multiple channels; downstream magnesium powder and magnesium alloy follow the price hike but lack sufficient demand support. For magnesium alloy, processing fees remain under continuous pressure due to ample inventory, impact of non-standard supplies, high-temperature maintenance of die-casting enterprises, and plastic substitution in two-wheeled vehicles. In the short term, amid the game between cost support and sluggish demand, magnesium price will continue to fluctuate in a narrow range.

【SMM Weekly Magnesium Inventory Express】This week, the inventory of primary magnesium smelting enterprises decreased by 2.20% month-on-month, and the overall primary magnesium market inventory showed a continuous downward trend this week. This round of inventory decline is mainly driven by two factors. On the one hand, although more enterprises in the main primary magnesium production areas resumed production this week and the total output of the industry was slightly adjusted upward, the resumption progress was relatively gentle, the overall increase in output was limited, and the supplementary strength of new supply to inventory was weak; on the other hand, downstream traders concentrated on restocking, coupled with the centralized fulfillment of pending orders in the early stage, the overall activity of the market trading atmosphere increased significantly, and the spot goods in the factory were greatly digested, which directly drove the rapid destocking of the factory-side inventory. Looking forward to the after-market, as the resumption rhythm of magnesium smelting enterprises continues to accelerate, the overall output of primary magnesium will further increase, and the pressure on the market supply side will gradually accumulate. By then, the inventory of magnesium plants is likely to end the current downward trend and usher in a situation of stopping the decline and rebounding.