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During the week of February 6–12, the operating rate in the enamelled wire industry dropped 10.27 percentage points WoW to...

Dongwha Electrolyte said on the 10th that it is strengthening a strategic partnership with specialty fine chemicals firm PGT and comprehensive fine materials company Cheonbo to respond to the North American battery materials market and expand technical collaboration. Under the agreement, Dongwha Electrolyte will source domestically produced lithium hexafluorophosphate from PGT and mass-produce high-quality electrolytes at its Tennessee manufacturing facility in the U.S. The company plans to accelerate its localization strategy by supplying products that meet supply-chain regulatory requirements to local battery cell makers and automakers.

[SMM Lithium Battery Electrolyte Market Weekly Review: Electrolyte Prices Remained Stable This Week (2026.2.9-2.12)] From February 9 to February 12, 2026, electrolyte prices remained stable. Considering the changing trends on the cost side and the supply-demand pattern, electrolyte prices were expected to remain stable in the short term.

[SMM Aluminum Alloy Express] The operating rate of leading enterprises in the secondary aluminum industry fell sharply by 11.4 percentage points WoW this week. As the Chinese New Year holiday approached, secondary aluminum producers began shutting down furnaces and taking holidays starting from February 5. The scope of shutdowns continued to expand during the week, with large and medium-sized aluminum plants basically entering the holiday period around the 12th. Market shipments nearly came to a halt, and the industry's production pace slowed down significantly, with the operating rate quickly pulling back to a periodic low. It is expected that after the holiday, as enterprises gradually resume production, the operating rate will rebound noticeably. However, the initial recovery pace will

[SMM Aluminum Alloy Daily Report] SMM ADC12 price remained stable at 23,650 yuan/mt. Currently, upstream and downstream enterprises have entered the Chinese New Year holiday period one after another, most small and medium-sized secondary aluminum plants have shut down furnaces for the holiday, and large enterprises also arranged holidays starting today, with market shipments basically suspended. Against the backdrop of simultaneous cooling on both supply and demand sides, spot quotations and actual transactions significantly weakened, and the overall market entered a pre-holiday lull state.

The spot copper market in Shandong has entered the Chinese New Year holiday period. Downstream enterprises in the province have completed pre-holiday stockpiling based on orders and holiday arrangements. Coupled with tightening logistics capacity, overall market trading is sluggish. As of Thursday, the average spot premiums/discounts were reported at a discount of 270 yuan/mt.

[SMM Magnesium Weekly Review: Magnesium Market Remained Stable Pre-Holiday, Prices Steady in Major Production Areas, Overseas Inquiries Increased but Trading Remained Sluggish] This week, the domestic magnesium industry chain market operated steadily overall. As the Chinese New Year holiday approached, market trading activity gradually slowed, with participants generally adopting a wait-and-see attitude. The dolomite market remained stable overall; the suspension of production by top-tier enterprises in the Wutai region led to tight supply of high-quality resources, but other major production areas promptly compensated for the gap, ensuring stable supply. Steady operations at primary magnesium enterprises in Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia generated rigid demand, coupled with rising pre-holiday freight costs pushing up expenses, supporting relatively strong prices. The magnesium ingot market held steady, as smelters in major production areas saw eased funding pressure and maintained firm offers, while downstream pre-holiday stockpiling concluded, resulting in sluggish spot trades. In the Tianjin Port FOB market, overseas new orders were scarce, mostly for forward delivery, with the Chinese New Year holiday impacting the progress of actual transactions. Magnesium powder enterprises slowed their production pace after completing raw material stockpiling, as both domestic and international procurement neared completion, leading to a cooling trading atmosphere. Magnesium alloy enterprises operated normally, but downstream die-casting and end-user companies gradually began holiday breaks, resulting in subdued orders. The tight supply-demand balance supported firm processing fees.

[SMM News] SHFE data showed that on February 12, the total registered volume of cast aluminum alloy warrants was 66,638 mt, a decrease of 210 mt compared with the previous trading day. By region: Shanghai (6,490 mt, an increase of 0 mt), Guangdong (23,181 mt, a decrease of 60 mt), Jiangsu (8,681 mt, a decrease of 150 mt), Zhejiang (22,249 mt, an increase of 0 mt), Chongqing (4,684 mt, an increase of 0 mt), and Sichuan (1,353 mt, an increase of 0 mt).

This week, the second-life battery market maintained overall stable price performance. Cost side, lithium carbonate prices generally trended upward, while nickel and cobalt salt prices remained relatively steady, providing some cost support for second-life battery cells. Supply side, the second-life battery market gradually entered the Chinese New Year break phase, compounded by the traditional industry off-season, leading to a noticeable contraction in overall enterprise shipments and a continued reduction in market circulation supply. Demand side, influenced by fluctuations in lithium chemical prices, downstream enterprises adopted a more cautious purchasing mindset. Additionally, most enterprises operating normally during the Chinese New Year had completed stockpiling in advance, while others had already confirmed their Chinese New Year break schedules, resulting in a continued weakening of overall purchase willingness. Under the combined effect of multiple factors, overall market transactions entered a sluggish period. Although current fluctuations in spot lithium chemical prices introduced some variability in the cost side of second-life battery cells, price transmission still requires time. Coupled with the overall pullback in market demand during the Chinese New Year period, only minimal transactions occurred for second-life battery cells this week, with prices remaining generally stable. This trend is expected to persist until the end of the Chinese New Year holiday.

[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review] SS Futures Pull Back Again, Stainless Steel Spot Market Trading Halts Pre-Holiday SMM, February 12: SS futures ended their previous strengthening trend and fluctuated downward during the day, closing at 13,970 yuan/mt. In the spot market, despite intra-week fluctuations in futures and rising high-grade NPI prices, most spot traders were already on holiday, logistics were suspended, and prices saw little significant change, with daily quotations remaining stable. The most-traded SS futures contract fell. At 10:30 a.m., the SS2604 contract was quoted at 14,080 yuan/mt, up 70 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In Wuxi, the spot premium/discount for 304/2B was in the range of 90–290 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the average price of cold-rolled 201/2B coil in Wuxi was 8,500 yuan/mt; the average price of cold-rolled edged 304/2B coil was 14,100 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 14,050 yuan/mt in Foshan; the price of cold-rolled 316L/2B coil was 26,600 yuan/mt in Wuxi and 26,600 yuan/mt in Foshan; the price of hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coil was 25,750 yuan/mt in Wuxi; the price of cold-rolled 430/2B coil was 7,800 yuan/mt in both Wuxi and Foshan. On the futures side, driven by weakening macro influences and narrowing fluctuations in nonferrous metal futures, the market showed a relatively stable fluctuation trend at the beginning of the week, with trading activity pulling back. As the Chinese New Year holiday approached, market participants adopted a wait-and-see attitude due to risk aversion and the fact that previous bullish factors had largely been realized. Mid-week, stimulated by news of Indonesian nickel mine approvals being finalized, SHFE nickel futures…

[SMM Aluminum Express News] Vedanta Aluminium has scaled up billet production at its Jharsuguda facility (Odisha, India), the world's largest aluminum plant—to 830 KTPA by commissioning an additional 250 KTPA (on existing 580 KTPA). This positions it among the world's largest billet producers, enhancing value-added supply for domestic and global customers. Billets (5–12 inch diameters) feed extrusion for infrastructure, transport, renewables, electrical, consumer goods, and packaging. The company also added new 120 KTPA Primary Foundry Alloy (PFA) facility.