Environmental Protection Ends, Operating Rates of Galvanising Producers Rise: The operating rates of galvanising producers recorded 60.64% this week, up 1.43 percentage points WoW. In terms of raw material inventory, zinc prices fell to a more acceptable level for downstream enterprises this week, stimulating them to buy the dip, leading to an increase in zinc ingot inventory.

[Operating Rates of Galvanising Producers Decline Due to Environmental Protection]: This week, the operating rates of galvanising producers recorded 59.21%, down 0.34 percentage points WoW. Regarding raw material inventory, zinc prices rose steadily this week, with restocking driven by rigid demand and inventory consumption as the main activities. Large producers primarily relied on long-term contracts, leading to a slight decline in zinc ingot inventory. The main reason for the decline in operating rates this week was the impact of environmental protection-driven production restrictions in Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, and Shandong. In Tianjin and Hebei, Class A enterprises were unaffected, Class B enterprises operated at half capacity, and Class C enterprises were completely shut down. Additionally, vehicle transportation was restricted in all regions.

According to the SMM survey, as of February 26, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 86.44%, up 0.15 percentage points WoW. The capacity utilisation rate of blast furnaces was 87.82%, down 0.21 percentage points WoW. The daily average pig iron production of the sampled steel mills was 2.3695 million mt, down 5,500 mt WoW.

【SMM Analysis: A Battle Among Provinces for Refined Recycled Lead Production: The Latest Ranking of Production Proportions is Out!】SMM News on September 14th: Anhui Province is China's leading province in refined recycled lead production, maintaining its dominant position from 2022 to 2024; despite facing various setbacks such as environmental restrictions and policy changes since 2024, the proportion of its production in 2024 still increased... In the second half of 2023, the commissioning of the Phase III project of Tongliao Taiding, a large-scale refinery in Inner Mongolia, boosted the region's refined lead production proportion from tenth place in 2022 to fifth place in 2023; currently ranking fourth in 2024. The "rising star" in the 2024 ranking is...

The recent recovery in lithium carbonate prices is due to previous production losses and environmental restrictions causing a spot market shortage, alongside a demand resurgence and restocking by downstream sectors, resulting in a supply-demand mismatch. Lithium carbonate supply is expected to increase as smelters return to normal and imports arrive. With downstream cathode producers sensitive to high costs, the potential for rising spot prices is likely to be limited.

Tin prices are affected by multiple factors, of which the supply of tin concentrates, demand for tin compounds and demand for tin in emerging markets are particularly critical. With the transformation of the global energy structure, the demand for tin in emerging markets is also changing, which has an impact on tin price changes. At the same time, the wide range of applications of tin compounds also make it in the chemical, glass and other industries occupy an important position, and its market demand changes directly affect the fluctuation of tin prices. The trend of tin prices needs to take these factors into account and pay close attention to market dynamics.