Latest Update in the SMM Anode Materials Market

The first annual Palladium Global Science Award competition is now live, with a total prize fund of $350,000. Scientists, startups and research groups involved in the study, analysis and development of new applications for palladium have to submit their entries until 31 July 2025. The China Precious Metals Industry Committee (CPMIC) is the main partner of the competition.

[SMM Analysis: What Happened After the DRC Suspended Cobalt Exports? What’s the Outlook?] On February 24, 2025, the world's largest cobalt supplier, the DRC, announced a four-month suspension of cobalt exports to address the prolonged low cobalt prices caused by a supply surplus in the international market. This policy took effect on February 22 and is expected to be evaluated after three months to determine whether adjustments are needed. The announcement immediately drew widespread global attention and ignited market enthusiasm for all cobalt-related products. According to SMM prices, as of March 14, prices of various cobalt products had risen significantly. Among them, cobalt sulphate, cobalt chloride, and cobalt intermediate products all saw cumulative increases of over 80% within 10 days. Why did this ban attract such significant attention? First, from the perspective of cobalt resource reserves...

Li Auto recorded total revenue of RMB144.5 billion in 2024, reflecting a 16.6% increase from the previous year.

[SMM Analysis: Green Constraints and Cost Pressure: Weekly Decline in Operating Rate of Secondary Lead Industry] SMM reported on March 14: Last week, we mentioned the tug-of-war between secondary lead smelters with high operating rates and bullish yet reluctant sellers among recyclers. This week, due to factors such as environmental protection-related controls and tight raw material supply, the operating rate of smelters ultimately declined.

[SMM Commentary: Copper Prices Break Through the 80,000 Yuan Mark Amid Mixed Macro Signals and Weak Supply and Demand Fundamentals—How Will the Copper Market Perform?] Amid rising concerns over a US economic recession and the impact of US tariffs clouding the global demand outlook, the US dollar index continued its weakness. Coupled with US non-farm payrolls growth falling short of expectations and February CPI inflation in the US coming in below expectations across the board, market expectations for a US Fed interest rate cut have increased. LME and SHFE copper prices initially declined but later rebounded this week. Market expectations for domestic policy support to continue boosting demand, combined with ongoing destocking of domestic copper inventories, have supported copper prices. As of 16:53 on March 14, LME copper rose 0.58% to $9,840/mt, with its weekly performance extending the previous week's gains, up 2.36% so far. SHFE copper increased 1.03% to 80,500 yuan/mt, marking its second consecutive weekly gain with a rise of 2.29% this week.

According to SMM data, starting from March 6, 2025, SMM mainstream copper cathode social warehouse inventories began consecutive destocking, with a total reduction exceeding 20,000 mt over the past three statistical periods. As of March 14, 2025, domestic copper cathode inventories totaled 345,500 mt, down 33,600 mt YoY, indicating that the destocking turning point in 2025 arrived earlier than in 2024.

During the week, the market average price of SMM 8-12% high-nickel pig iron was 1001.5 yuan per nickel point (ex-factory price, including tax), which represents an increase of 13.7 yuan per nickel point compared to last week. At the same time, the Indonesian NPI FOB index rose by $2.1 per nickel point compared to last week. These changes indicate a continued upward trend in high-nickel pig iron prices this week.