Japan Quakes Shut Down Key Plants, Spur Lithium Niobate Price Surge

Xinjinlu Group announced in June a planned investment of RMB 496 million to implement integrated mining, dressing, and metallurgical upgrades at its Guangxi Limu Mining subsidiary. The project includes upgrading mining operations to 600,000 tons/year, constructing a 1.5 million tons/year dressing line, building a tantalum-niobium hydrometallurgical workshop, and recovering associated metals like rubidium from tailings. Upon completion, it will form a complete industrial chain for tantalum, niobium, tin, and tungsten, yielding approximately 840 tons of tantalum oxide and 867 tons of niobium oxide annually.

[SMM Tantalum Flash] Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry disclosed the progress of its private placement projects in June. Installation and commissioning are underway for pyrometallurgical smelting and high-end product lines, while construction of the hydrometallurgical digital plant is accelerating. Concurrently, the smart production line for niobium superconducting cavities is advancing on schedule, with full operational status targeted for June 30. Strategically, the firm will invest RMB 100 million to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary, Ningxia CNMC Key Metal Materials Co., Ltd., dedicated to hydrometallurgical operations to bolster self-sufficiency in upstream raw materials.

[SMM Magnesium Weekly Inventory Brief] This week, social inventories decreased by 3.00% month-on-month, showing a regional divergence. In major production areas, inventory reduction was more pronounced due to the progress of long-term contract deliveries and production cuts by some manufacturers. Meanwhile, Tianjin Port experienced slight inventory accumulation as low-priced resources stimulated traders' stockpiling. Overall, the inventory reduction in production areas provided some bottom support for magnesium prices, but the port inventory accumulation reflects persistent export difficulties, with short-term supply-demand imbalances still awaiting resolution.