China’s Gansu to encourage firms to stockpile nonferrous metals of up to 436,000 mt

On February 5th, Rio Tinto said it is no longer in takeover talks with Glencore after the parties failed to agree on terms that would deliver value to Rio shareholders, marking the third time such discussions have fallen apart (following failed approaches in 2014 and 2024). Glencore said the proposed structure— including Rio retaining the Chairman and CEO roles and a pro forma ownership split—significantly undervalued Glencore’s relative contribution, and therefore was not in Glencore shareholders’ interests. Following the announcement, Glencore shares fell as much as 10.8% while Rio’s London-listed shares were down around 2.6%. Reuters noted the setback echoes other stalled mega-deals in the mining sector, such as BHP’s failed bid for Anglo American.

As the Chinese New Year break approaches, the holiday schedules and production plans of enamelled wire enterprises have been largely finalized. SMM has surveyed multiple enamelled wire manufacturers, and the results are summarized as follows:

[SMM Brass Billet Bar] Regarding post-holiday production resumptions, brass bar enterprises generally expect a slow recovery in market demand. In the initial phase of production resumptions, the focus will be on digesting existing inventory and fulfilling a small number of orders. Large-scale raw material procurement and production are expected to be postponed until after the Lantern Festival.