News

The Middle East tension is affecting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea that depend on the region for aluminium and naptha. A report says these firms need support to manage raw material supply and exports. SMEs do not import much overall from the Middle East, but they depend on it for some key materials. According to a report by The Small and Medium Venture Business Research Institute, about 82.8 per cent of naphtha imports come from countries like Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar. Some aluminium products also rely on the region, including scrap (11.2 per cent) and non-alloy ingots (8.8 per cent). This creates a risk of supply problems.

Century Aluminum Company (CENX) has reported higher costs and expenses in 2025. Cost of sales increased by 10.9 per cent compared to the previous year. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose by about 41 per cent. Other operating costs also increased by more than 100 per cent. The main cost pressures came from key inputs like alumina, electricity and carbon products. These made up over 84 per cent of total production costs. Changes in energy and raw material prices have also added pressure. Equipment issues at the Grundartangi plant in Iceland affected the cost efficiency.

On March 18th, the handover and trial production ceremony for the graphene-coated aluminum foil production base, a supporting project for the Fengshan Lake New Energy Industrial Park, was successfully held, officially marking the start of the trial production phase. The project has a total investment of approximately 200 million yuan and, upon completion, will have an annual production capacity of 48,000 tons of graphene-coated aluminum foil. The Fengshan Lake supporting production project is a new energy industry project focusing on high-end manufacturing. It is a joint development project between Jiangmen Development Group's subsidiary, Jiangfa Industrial Park Group, and Guangdong Shengkai Metal Industry Co., Ltd.

Xingfa Aluminium announced its 2025 annual results. Revenue increased by 9.8% to approximately RMB 20.7 billion. Profit attributable to shareholders decreased by 23.5% to approximately RMB 632 million.

On March 26, a centralized signing ceremony for investment projects in Dianjiang County for the first quarter of 2026 was held. Among the signed projects, a project for the annual production of 50,000 tons of recycled aluminum and aluminum product processing is planned to construct 10 production lines for aluminum smelting and deep processing. After completion and operation, it is expected to achieve an annual output value of 1.25 billion yuan and tax revenue of over 10 million yuan.

Nanshan Aluminum International announced that for the year ended December 31, 2025, the company's total revenue was US$1.142 billion, an increase of 11.9% year-on-year; and the profit for the year was US$418 million, a decrease of 8.6% year-on-year.

On March 27, the Ministry of Commerce released two announcements, respectively launching two reciprocal trade barrier investigations into US practices and measures that undermine the global industrial and supply chains and US practices and measures that hinder trade in green products.

[SMM News Flash] According to reports, Shanghai Jingzhi Industrial Co., Ltd. recently plans to implement the "Intelligent Manufacturing Capacity Expansion Project for Precision Structural Components" through its wholly owned subsidiary, Dongguan Jingzhi Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. The project focuses on building capacity for the full process of die-casting, machining, and assembly of high-end communication structural components, and is committed to creating a high-end intelligent manufacturing delivery base in South China.

On March 25, the Sichuan Qimingxing 100 MW/200 MWh user-side ESS project, invested in and developed by the Municipal Industrial Investment Company, officially broke ground at the plant of Sichuan Qimingxing Aluminum Co., Ltd. The project was a key undertaking jointly developed by Meishan Industrial Investment Company and Sichuan Qimingxing, with a total investment of approximately 180 million yuan and a site area of about 30 mu, and adopted a technologically mature and performance-stable LFP battery BESS. Upon completion, the project is expected to deliver annual discharge of about 100 million kWh, effectively optimizing the enterprise's power consumption structure and improving the reliability of power supply.

SMM, March 27: Inventory side, aluminum ingot inventory in mainstream consumption regions increased by 1,500 mt from the previous period today, while destocking was mainly seen in Gongyi and Guangdong. In the short term, aluminum ingot inventory continued seasonal inventory buildup after the Chinese New Year. Affected by bullish sentiment, premiums are expected to maintain a narrowing trend.

SMM, March 27: Over the past two days, aluminum prices fluctuated continuously, with bullish and bearish sentiment intertwined in the central China market. As the weekend approached, downstream processing enterprises saw stockpiling demand fall short of expectations, while purchasing traders remained cautious and made no large-scale procurement or stockpiling moves. Suppliers showed limited willingness to hold prices firm, and final transaction prices were around parity with the central China price to a discount of 20 yuan against the central China price. Central China market shipment sentiment index was 2.65 today, up 0.01 MoM; the purchasing sentiment index was 2.38, down 0.03 MoM.

SMM, March 27: In early trading, SHFE aluminum 2604 fluctuated downward, while its center was higher than the previous day. Supported by higher futures prices, shipment sentiment increased from yesterday, though some sellers still held back from selling, with a clear willingness to hold prices firm. Mainstream transaction prices in the market were concentrated at premiums of 10-20 yuan/mt against the SHFE aluminum 04 contract. East China market shipment sentiment index was 2.92 today, up 0.29 MoM; the purchasing sentiment index was 3.22, down 0.17 MoM.

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 27 Mar , 2026

[SMM Daily Review of Aluminum Alloy] Today, the ADC12 market edged up slightly, driven by the rebound in aluminum prices. Some enterprises raised their quotations by 100–200 yuan/mt, while others chose to hold prices temporarily steady and wait due to the pace of yesterday’s price adjustments or weak demand. In terms of transactions, downstream procurement still mainly met rigid demand, the market trading atmosphere showed no obvious improvement, and demand provided insufficient momentum.