The Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress opened at 9:00 a.m. on the morning of the 5th at the Great Hall of the People, where Premier Li Qiang of the State Council delivered the Government Work Report. Based on the relevant content of the Government Work Report, SMM compared the wording of certain core key words with that of 2025:

In January 2026, the European Union and India reached a historic Free Trade Agreement (FTA), with the elimination of steel tariffs of up to 22% becoming a major market focus. However, clearing the policy fog of "bilateral exemptions" and analyzing actual export and carbon emission data reveals that the steel industry faces a highly asymmetric trade reshaping. This seemingly fair reduction is actually Europe trading a "capped" ticket for India's "uncapped" massive incremental market.

LME copper opened at $7903.5/mt overnight, with its session low and high at $7890/mt and $7995/mt before closing up 0.57% at $7985.5/mt.

February 25, 2026— AMG Critical Materials Inc. announced adjusted EBITDA of $235 million for the year 2025, representing a 40% increase from $168 million in 2024, primarily driven by strong performance in its antimony and engineering businesses. The company concluded the year with a robust balance sheet, highlighted by total liquidity of $484 million as of December 31, 2025. The refinery in Bitterfeld has continued to ramp up its production, producing in specification battery-grade lithium hydroxide and progressing with customer qualification as planned.AMG has dispatched kilogram samples to all cathode active materials (CAM) manufacturers with a footprint in Europe at the end of 2025, initiating the first stage of qualification. Based on customer feedback, it is anticipateed that it will move on to the next stage of qualification involving the shipment of tons in the first half of 2026, and expect to reach full production capacity in the second half of 2026. AMG Lithium is starting engineering on a 5,000-ton lithium carbonate to lithium hydroxide conversion plant at its Bitterfeld site. This plant will be designed to accept recycled lithium carbonate, and convert it to technical-grade hydroxide for use in Bitterfeld’s main upgrading facility. The plant’s capital cost is expected to be $50 million, and as announced in December 2025, 20% of the costs of the plant will be supported by a funding grant from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The fourth quarter 2025 adjusted EBITDA decreased 87% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, primarily due to the lower lithium concentrate volumes in the current quarter and higher mining costs related to poor quality ore. Full year 2025 adjusted EBITDA decreased from $24 million to $12 million, driven primarily by the 16% decrease in annual average lithium prices in 2025 compared to 2024, as well as the lower lithium concentrate sales volumes in the current period. During the fourth quarter of 2025, a total of 28,326 dry metric tons (“dmt”) of lithium concentrates were sold, 84% more than the 15,409 dmt in the third quarter of 2025, but 15% less than the 33,492 dmt in the fourth quarter of 2024. During the quarter, poor quality ore caused recoveries to drop, reducing production volumes. During 2025, a total of 69,180 dmt of lithium concentrates were sold, 22% less than the 88,966 dmt in 2024, due primarily to the failure of one piece of equipment in the second quarter of 2025 associated with our expansion project. The average realized sales price was $689/dmt CIF China for the fourth quarter of 2025, and the average realized sales price for the year was $632/dmt CIF China. The average cost per ton for the current quarter was $489/dmt CIF China. The average cost per ton increased from $290/dmt in the fourth quarter of 2024 due to the lower volumes and higher cost of mining activities in the current quarter. The average cost per ton for full year 2025 was $488/dmt CIF China compared to $458/dmt CIF China for 2024.

The table below shows daily changes of SHFE base metals and stainless steel warrants today.

The table below shows daily changes of SHFE base metals and stainless steel warrants today.