Major Smelter in East China Sells Crude Cadmium at RMB 26,800 Per Ton via Open Tender

[Silicon Metal Finds Stronger Cost Support After Continuous Declines; Focus on Whether Polysilicon Production Cut Expectations Materialize]: Overall, expectations for Q4 polysilicon production cuts have been building recently, and with some silicon enterprises in the northwest resuming production, bearish market sentiment has kept silicon metal prices in the doldrums. Although silicon metal's own fundamentals in September still showed a MoM supply reduction and slight inventory destocking, growing concerns over downstream demand have kept prices under sustained pressure. As the most-traded silicon metal contract fell to around 8,400-8,500 yuan/mt, cost support and buying interest below futures prices have strengthened, and prices may shift to consolidation. The subsequent trend will hinge on whether polysilicon production cut expectations materialize substantively, changes in operating rates among enterprises in the north and south on the supply side, and capital sentiment.

[SMM Silicone Weekly Review: Downstream purchasing sentiment cautious in the silicone market, new order transactions weak] Since monomer plants raised prices successively last week, this week the market has mainly been digesting the increases. Monomer plant quotes remained stable, but transactions for high-priced orders in the market were relatively weak. On the raw material side, affected by geopolitical conditions, import prices for raw material methanol remained firm, providing some support to silicone DMC prices. Overall, the current silicone market is in a tug-of-war between upstream and downstream: the supply side has a strong willingness to hold prices firm, while the demand side is mainly restocking on a just-in-time basis, with limited high-priced transactions in the market. In the short term, silicone prices will remain stable, and attention should be paid to changes in downstream stockpiling pace before the holiday and the trend of raw material methanol prices.

[SMM Flash] PMET Resources' 100%-owned Shaakichiuwaanaan project in Québec, Canada, has been selected for inclusion in the Canada Investment Summit Prospectus, increasing the project's exposure to global institutional and strategic investors. While Shaakichiuwaanaan is primarily being developed as a major lithium project, PMET has also highlighted its significant tantalum and caesium co-product potential, describing the asset as hosting one of the world's largest tantalum-bearing pegmatite resources. The project already has strategic investment relationships with Volkswagen and Albemarle, while Société Générale, Export Development Canada and KfW IPEX-Bank have provided non-binding expressions of interest regarding potential debt financing. If developed, Shaakichiuwaanaan could contribute to geographical diversification of primary tantalum supply through co-product recovery from large-scale lithium mining. However, its inclusion in the investment summit does not represent a new financing commitment, final investment decision or confirmed tantalum production schedule.