[SMM Analysis] it will take time for overseas new energy vehicle plants to gradually resume production and recover terminal demand.

On September 9, the starting auction price of lump coal from Hongliulin Mine was 920 yuan/ton, with an auction volume of 104,000 tons. The transaction average price stood at 929.89 yuan/ton, down 254.11 yuan/ton from the average price of the previous period. Today, the lowest auction price was 921 yuan/ton, and the highest was 961 yuan/ton.

Vishnu Chemicals Limited (VCL), India's leading chromium, barium and strontium chemicals manufacturer, has executed a definitive Joint Venture Agreement with DCX Chrome SAS of France, a subsidiary of the Delachaux Group, to establish a greenfield high-purity chromium metal manufacturing plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The two companies will each hold a 50% equity stake in the new joint venture. The facility is engineered for an installed capacity of 6,000 metric tonnes per annum, dedicated entirely to producing high-purity chromium metal. Under the agreement, DCX Chrome, a Tier-1 supplier to global aerospace, energy, superalloy and welding sectors with more than 80 years of aluminothermic chromium metal manufacturing experience, will provide its proprietary process technology to the venture. VCL, which the release describes as India's undisputed market leader in chromium chemicals, will supply chrome oxide green as the raw material feedstock, ensuring what the companies characterized as an uninterrupted domestic supply chain for the plant. The venture is framed explicitly around import substitution under India's Atmanirbhar Bharat, or self-reliance, policy, targeting a segment of the chromium value chain the release describes as currently almost entirely import-dependent in India. Applications cited include aerospace turbo-reactor components such as combustion chambers, turbine disks, blades and casings, with the release noting that a single commercial aircraft engine, such as one used on the Airbus A320, contains approximately 250 kilograms of pure chrome metal. Other targeted end markets include downhole drilling tools and corrosion-resistant alloy pipelines for oil and gas applications, steam superheater tubes for nuclear power plants, land-based gas turbines, and thin-film materials used in liquid crystal displays. VCL Chairman and Managing Director Krishna Murthy Cherukuri said the partnership advances the company's strategic growth while contributing to India's self-reliance goals, while DCX Chrome CEO Fernando Accioly said the joint venture reflects strong confidence in the long-term global outlook for high-purity chromium metal. The project is also expected to generate high-skilled engineering and operational employment in the Visakhapatnam region, supporting Andhra Pradesh's broader industrial development objectives. No timeline for construction completion or commissioning of the plant was disclosed in the announcement.

African Rainbow Minerals' Nkomati Mine sold 28,111 tonnes of chrome concentrate during the financial year ended June 30, 2026, as a byproduct of its primary nickel operations, according to ARM's condensed reviewed results published on September 4, 2026. The mine swung to headline earnings of R39 million for the year, from a R55 million headline loss in F2025. Nkomati, in which ARM holds a stake, has been re-established as South Africa's only primary nickel producer. The ARM board approved the recommencement of open-pit mining operations and nickel concentrate production at the mine following completion of a definitive feasibility study, describing the decision as a low-risk, immediately actionable growth project that leverages Nkomati's existing mining and processing infrastructure. The board's approval fulfils one of the conditions precedent to the mine's nickel concentrate offtake agreement. While chrome concentrate remains a secondary product at Nkomati relative to nickel, the mine's return to open-pit operation and higher throughput carries implications for its byproduct volumes going forward, including chrome concentrate. ARM's results did not break out a separate chrome ore or ferrochrome segment elsewhere in the group, with the company's core ferrous exposure sitting instead within ARM Ferrous, its 50%-held Assmang joint venture spanning iron ore and manganese. The scale of any future increase in Nkomati's chrome concentrate output will depend on the pace of the mine's open-pit ramp-up as it moves through the current financial year.