SMM March 11 News: According to SMM, the Northwest Lead and Zinc Smelter of Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co., Ltd. has initiated a public tender for the sale of approximately 100 tons of its crude cadmium. Specifically, according to official sources, the bidding base price is set at the SMM average price minus 500 RMB/ton, and the highest bidder will win the tender. This project requires three registered participants to proceed with the bidding. The registration deadline is 5:00 PM on March 16, 2026, and the bidding is scheduled to start at 10:00 AM on March 17, 2026.

SMM News on March 11: According to SMM, the Northwest Lead and Zinc Smelter of Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co., Ltd. launched a public tender sale for about 100 mt of crude cadmium under its operation. According to the official announcement, the bidding floor price was set at a discount of 500 yuan/mt to the average SMM price, and the highest bidder after the auction won the lot. This project required at least three registrants for the auction to proceed normally. The registration deadline was 17:00 on March 16, 2026, and bidding was scheduled to begin at 10:00 on March 17, 2026. Market participants said that, as cadmium prices had shown an upward trend recently, this tender was also well worth close attention. To a certain extent, it could reflect the strength of market demand and provide some reference as to whether cadmium prices could continue to rise steadily.

On February 28, Israeli Air Force fighter jets crossed thousands of kilometers of airspace to conduct a daylight precision strike on the center of Tehran, Iran's capital, drawing significant market attention. How will this conflict impact zinc concentrates? .

[Lead Smelting Enterprise Dynamics] Recently, Yunnan Chihong Zn & Ge Co., Ltd. announced plans to increase capital in its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hulunbuir Chihong Mining Co., Ltd., by 3.3 billion yuan using its own funds. This capital injection will primarily be used to repay internal loans, supplement working capital, and fund projects aimed at enhancing efficiency and unlocking potential in lead and zinc smelting operations.

Next week, the key macroeconomic data will include China's official manufacturing PMI for July, the US's ADP employment figures for July, the US's core PCE price index annual rate for June, the US's unemployment rate for July, and the US's seasonally adjusted non-farm payrolls for July. Additionally, important events include the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Fed announcing its interest rate decision, which is expected to remain unchanged. Meanwhile, He Lifeng, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, will travel to Sweden from July 27 to 30 for economic and trade talks with the US side, mainly focusing on the US's upcoming implementation of tariffs on August 12. Regarding LME lead, the progress of US tariff negotiations has been positive, easing market pessimism. Coupled with the US President's continuous pressure on the US Fed to cut interest rates, the US dollar index has weakened, and non-ferrous metals have generally stopped falling and rebounded. Meanwhile, overseas lead and zinc mine production has decreased, putting significant pressure on lead concentrate supply, which also provides some support for lead prices. It is expected that the center of LME lead's operation will move higher next week, reaching $2,000-2,065/mt. Domestically, for SHFE lead, some primary lead smelters are still undergoing maintenance and have not fully resumed production, leading to prominent regional supply tightness. Spot discounts have narrowed and are trading towards premiums (against SMM #1 lead prices), which may boost lead prices to hold up well. Regarding secondary lead, the resumption of production is gradually progressing, and there are signs of improvement in the inverted price relationship between secondary refined lead and primary lead. Before the price spread between the two reverses, it will still support lead price increases. If premiums turn into discounts, it will mean that this factor is no longer considered favorable. It is expected that the most-traded SHFE lead contract will operate within the range of 16,800-17,100 yuan/mt next week. Spot price forecast: 16,700-16,950 yuan/mt. With the resolution of month-end factors and the initiation of new long-term contracts by downstream enterprises for the new month, procurement volumes for spot lead ingots may relatively decrease. Meanwhile, as lead prices stop falling and rebound, downstream risk-aversion sentiment eases, and it is expected that some purchasing demand will be released, with the two roughly offsetting each other. On the supply side, on the one hand, secondary lead enterprises are gradually resuming production, and primary lead enterprises also have expectations for resuming production. Next week, the circulation volume in the spot market will relatively increase, and spot premium trading will be difficult to rise further, and there is even an expectation for narrowing premiums.

On June 16th, Australian miner Polymetals Resources Ltd announced that commercial production has commenced at its Endeavor silver-zinc mine, located in Cobar, New South Wales. The production of both silver-lead and zinc concentrates is now underway, with stable plant operations and ongoing optimisation of grinding and flotation circuits. The company stated that prepayment for zinc concentrate will be received in June, marking the project's first cashflow, while the first shipment is scheduled for early July. Deliveries of silver-lead concentrate will follow shortly thereafter. Access to high-grade silver ore in the upper levels is progressing, with first ore extraction expected in August. The operation is set to ramp up throughout the second half of 2025, targeting nameplate capacity of 1.2 million tonnes of ore per year. Once a major producer in Australia, the Endeavor mine has been successfully restarted over the past nine months with strong cost control. The board expressed satisfaction with current progress and is optimistic about delivering long-term value to shareholders and the Cobar region. If operations proceed smoothly, the mine is expected to produce approximately 20,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate in 2025.