Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Equipment Centre and other departments held a meeting that set the national standards for low-speed electric vehicles, which are expected to be officially released in September.

Carbon neutrality stocks have attracted market attention recently. In December 2020, the Central Economic Work Conference determined that promoting a peak in coal consumption and carbon neutrality are one of the key tasks to be focused in 2021. China is aiming to improve the system that caps both national carbon intensity－carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP－and energy consumption, as it strives to reach a peak in carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Carbon neutrality refers to achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions by balancing carbon dioxide emissions with removal (often through carbon offsetting) or simply eliminating carbon dioxide emissions altogether. It is used in the context of carbon dioxide-releasing processes associated with transportation, energy production, agriculture, and industrial processes. Carbon neutrality is expected be an important part of the "Two Sessions" and the "14th Five-Year Plan” to be held this week. 

China's new energy vehicle market demand has grown rapidly, leading to stronger demand for ternary and iron-lithium materials. The global supply of nickel and cobalt raw materials is tightening, and the increase in downstream demand will support the rise of lithium prices in 2021.

Automobile sales have shown a gradual recovery trend since April. China automobile production and sales have achieved year-on-year growth for eight consecutive months as of November.

A brief summary on the other keynote addresses at Shanghai Metals Market's 2020 Nonferrous Metals Industry Chain Annual Conference, which was held in Suzhou on December 3-4.

Leo Yi, senior analyst at SMM, explained the challenges posed by the new solid waste law to China’s aluminium scrap supply and operations at secondary aluminium producers

The rebound in copper prices was attributable to the recovery of demand and supply trends in China since Q2, said Rio Tinto's Laure Baratgin.

In order to achieve a sustainable future, mining giant BHP urges for greater transparency in the pricing mechanisms in the copper market.

Production cost of global copper ore is expected to rise in the future amid new inflation cycle, lower raw ore qualities and improved concerns on environmental protection and mining safety, according to Yang Bing, SMM consultant.

SMM is the first non-ferrous metal pricing platform in China that has passed the independent audit of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) financial index standard in 2020. This is also the first year that the China leading pricing provider has achieved the ISOCO standards.