Eastern Steel Commenced Construction of 240,000 mt/year Silico-Manganese Alloy Project in Malaysia

India has opened the registration process for companies seeking to establish and operate mineral exchanges under the Mineral Exchange Rules, 2026, with the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) issuing its application notice on October 1 and publishing the documents on October 3. The initial scope covers five minerals — iron, chromite, bauxite, limestone and manganese — and applications are due by November 2. The proposed exchanges are intended to facilitate organised trading and improve transparency in India's mineral markets. For the chromium industry, the inclusion of chromite is particularly significant as it could introduce a more formal mechanism for domestic price discovery and transaction transparency in one of India's key chromite-producing markets. The framework envisages trading, price dissemination and delivery-based contracts, potentially providing miners, processors and ferrochrome producers with an additional reference point for chromite transactions. However, the eventual impact on pricing and liquidity will depend on the exchange operator, participation and the volume of chromite traded once the platform becomes operational.

Sumitomo Chemical has established mass production of 4-inch Indium Phosphide (InP) epitaxial wafers at its Ibaraki Works and begun commercial sales, becoming one of the few Japanese epi houses capable of stable volume production. The products target photonic-electronic convergence devices for AI data centers and high-speed networks. The company aims to generate approximately JPY10 billion in InP epiwafer sales by the mid-2030s. SMM views the move into commercial production as a direct addition to Japan’s InP material supply and supportive of medium-term high-purity indium demand. Annual wafer capacity, output and indium consumption were not disclosed.

Greenland Resources completed its expanded summer field program at the Malmbjerg molybdenum project. Work covered infrastructure surveys, glacier investigations, RopeCon optimisation and geotechnical inspections. The team also collected 8 tonnes of drill core and 14 tonnes of saline and fresh water for government-supported metallurgical pilot testing. Results will support detailed engineering, key-equipment procurement and construction contracts. On a 100% basis, the feasibility study targets average output of 32.8 million lb (about 14,878 tonnes) of contained molybdenum annually during the first ten years. This remains planned capacity; no final investment or construction decision was announced.