The 1780mm pickling-tandem cold rolling project of the Tosyali Cold Rolling Complex in Algeria, undertaken by Sinosteel International (EPC), has been successfully put into operation. On July 21, the first pickled coil was produced; on July 27, the first high-grade cold-rolled hard coil was successfully rolled off the line. This marks the official entry of North Africa's first modern cold rolling mill into the trial production phase. Leveraging Chinese technology, speed, and quality, Sinosteel International has overcome geographical and technical challenges to fill the gap in high-end cold-rolled steel production in North Africa, injecting strong momentum into the local steel industry's transformation and upgrading. The 1780mm pickling-five-stand tandem cold rolling combined line, now in operation, is a fully automatic intelligent line integrating pickling and high-precision rolling, capable of flexible production of both pickled coils and cold-rolled hard coils. Its product performance fully meets the stringent standards for automotive sheets and high-end precision manufacturing, with dimensional tolerance precision leading the industry. The entire line adopts a continuous, integrated production model, breaking the efficiency bottleneck of traditional segmented production. The pickling stage precisely removes oxide scale and impurity defects from the hot-rolled strip surface, optimizing the surface quality of the sheets; the five-stand tandem cold rolling stage, through multiple precise reduction passes, significantly enhances steel strength, flatness, and dimensional accuracy, resulting in sheets with smooth surfaces and tight tolerances suitable for high-end industrial manufacturing applications. At the intelligent control level, the line is equipped with world-class control systems, achieving automated unattended production with more stable operation, faster response, and more precise control. The line is also equipped with a complete set of environmental protection treatment systems, making it a benchmark green and intelligent metallurgical line in North Africa.

Zhongke Electric (300035) Sees New Progress in Its Integrated Project for Annual Output of 300,000 mt of Lithium-Ion Battery Anode Material in Luzhou, Sichuan! Recently, the Luzhou Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment issued a public notice regarding the proposed approval opinions on the environmental impact assessment documents for the integrated construction project of a lithium battery anode material facility with an annual output of 300,000 mt, dated July 22, 2026.

SMM, June 30: Although market procurement demand remained mediocre, spot prices for Pr-Nd oxide recorded a second consecutive increase, supported by fluctuations in futures, difficulty in finding low-priced cargo in the market, some large manufacturers entering procurement, and a MoM decline of about 6% in Pr-Nd oxide production in June. On the demand side, long-term demand expansion expectations in the new energy industry chain such as robotics, along with the upcoming Q3 downstream concentrated procurement season in China and rising market expectations for subsequent demand recovery, bolstered the rare earth permanent magnet concept to strengthen on June 30, with the concept rising 2.79% by the close on June 30. In terms of individual stocks: Dongfang Zirconium Industry, Sinomine Resource Group, and Zhong Ke San Huan hit the daily limit up, while Hanghua Co., Ltd., Longhua Co., Ltd., Zhongxi Nonferrous, Sinosteel NMC, and Ningbo Yunsheng led the gains. Pr-Nd Oxide Spot Prices See Second Consecutive Increase; June Production Declines MoM In the spot market, on June 30, the average price of Pr-Nd oxide extended its upward trend from the previous trading day, rising another 0.68%. Currently, overall prices in the rare earth market remain stable. The increase in Pr-Nd oxide futures prices drove a simultaneous rise in supplier spot offers, making low-priced oxides hard to find in the market. However, metal enterprises were cautious in procurement due to unsatisfactory inquiries for metals, leading to generally moderate market trading activity. In the metal market, inquiry activity picked up slightly on the afternoon of the 30th, mainly driven by tender procurement from major magnetic material manufacturers, but most magnetic material enterprises remained on the sidelines, resulting in overall poor transactions. In the short term, Pr-Nd product prices may move sideways without significant improvement in downstream demand. On the supply side, further providing price support logic: in terms of production, according to SMM's latest survey, overall rare earth oxide production declined MoM in June, with Pr-Nd oxide seeing the most prominent decrease, shrinking approximately 6% MoM. Institutional Views SDIC Securities emphasized that heavy rare earths are accelerating inventory depletion due to a cliff-like decline in imports from Japan, opening a window for domestic substitution, with prices of dysprosium oxide and terbium oxide rebounding strongly. Materials such as AI high-capacity MLCCs, high-end ceramic substrates, and dental zirconia all require the addition of heavy rare earths. Growing demand combined with hard supply constraints is driving the price centers of both light and heavy rare earths upward together. Meanwhile, inflation trends in AI upstream materials such as MLCC dielectric powder, Low CTE electronic fabrics, M9 copper foil, and tantalum metals are clear, and the medium and long-term outlook is positive for the allocation value of strategic metals like rare earths, tungsten, copper, tin, molybdenum, antimony, germanium, gallium, tantalum, niobium, uranium, rhenium, and lithium. A research report from China Securities stated that domestic dental zirconia enterprises have confirmed "receipt of a notice from Japan's Tosoh Corporation regarding the suspension of zirconia powder supply," marking a shift in raw material shortages from expectations to reality following overseas rare earth supply restrictions. Yttria-stabilized nano zirconia (YSZ) is a high-performance ceramic material with yttrium oxide added as an additive. Due to restricted rare earth supply outside China, the price spread between Chinese and overseas markets has reached hundreds of times at its peak. The domestic price spread for yttrium oxide between Chinese and overseas markets is huge. Rare earths are indispensable additives for high-end materials and high-end manufacturing. As overseas rare earth supply tightens and the price spread between Chinese and overseas markets widens, domestic high-end materials containing rare earths are expected to gain a larger share of the global market, benefiting the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments of the rare earth industry chain. Recommended reading:

Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube revealed during the World Economic Forum in Dalian that the country is actively considering using its abundant mineral resources as collateral through "resource‑linked debt instruments" to finance road and railway construction projects in cooperation with China. This model aims to leverage future revenue from natural resources as loan guarantees to address the huge funding gap for infrastructure development. Ncube said Zimbabwe has held preliminary discussions with China Railway Group regarding such financing arrangements. He told reporters: "We have discussed resource‑linked debt instruments and hope to use them in the future to support infrastructure development, particularly in the road and railway sectors." Under the envisaged plan, Zimbabwe would assess project costs, toll revenue potential, and the return cycle of required resource investments to determine the scale of resource collateral and the repayment path. As Africa's largest lithium producer, Zimbabwe possesses rich mineral resources, but years of economic mismanagement and political instability have left its infrastructure severely lagging. The African Development Bank estimates that the country needs approximately US$34 billion to modernise its transport and logistics network. The proposed resource‑for‑infrastructure plan resembles the model of the US$7 billion Sicomines copper‑cobalt joint venture in the Democratic Republic of Congo with Chinese companies. As early as September 2025, Zimbabwe's President, during a meeting in Beijing with senior executives of China Railway Group, promoted a railway rehabilitation cooperation plan totalling US$533 million. The project is to be implemented by Chuantie International, a subsidiary of China Railway Group with extensive experience in African projects. The scope of work includes repair and reinforcement of existing lines and bridges, modernisation of signal systems, procurement of 17 locomotives and 209 freight wagons, construction of five new stations, and the key trunk line connecting Beitbridge and Harare – a strategic corridor leading directly to South Africa, which is vital to Zimbabwe's foreign trade. Currently, the project's financing method and formal signing date are still under final negotiation. Zimbabwe's railway network was built during the colonial era and carried up to 12 million tonnes of freight annually in the 1990s. However, decades of underinvestment, equipment obsolescence, and foreign exchange shortages have caused the railway infrastructure to deteriorate continuously. Current annual freight volume has fallen to less than 3 million tonnes – only 15% of its historical peak. Many lines are overgrown with weeds, and a large number of locomotives and rolling stock have been taken out of service, directly weakening the capacity to transport bulk commodities such as lithium, chrome ore, and coal to the ports of Mozambique and South Africa. Consequently, Chinese mining enterprises operating in Zimbabwe – including Tsingshan Holding Group, Sinosteel Corporation, and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt – all face export bottlenecks for their products. The decline of the railway system has forced a large volume of freight onto roads, leading to a surge in heavy trucks, which in turn exacerbates road congestion, traffic accidents, and pavement damage, forming a vicious cycle. In response, the National Railways of Zimbabwe has incorporated this railway rehabilitation into a broader modernisation framework and has engaged in cooperation with 11 private enterprises. Among them, South Africa's Grindrod, through its subsidiary Beitbridge‑Bulawayo Railway Company, has already deployed three locomotives and 150 freight wagons to alleviate current transport pressures. At the same time, Zimbabwe is exploring collaboration with the University of Zimbabwe to leverage the university's innovation centre for localised railway technology R&D and talent training, building capacity for long‑term operations. Analysts point out that if this railway rehabilitation is successfully implemented, it will not only fully restore Zimbabwe's deteriorated railway network, but also provide critical logistics support for the country's US$12 billion mining target, while further deepening the strategic presence of Chinese enterprises in Zimbabwe's mining and infrastructure sectors. According to market dynamics, in recent years – and especially since the beginning of this year – lithium ore shipments from Zimbabwe have been persistently delayed at ports, with insufficient inland transport capacity being one of the main bottlenecks hindering smooth cargo arrivals. As the relevant logistics system upgrades are put into effect, this situation is expected to be significantly alleviated, and the transport efficiency of lithium materials will be notably improved, thereby injecting solid momentum into the stabilisation of global lithium supply. Sources: Mining.com , Azure Track Rail, and SMM

【SMM Steel】Algerian President Tebboune recently inaugurated a 950-kilometer railway constructed in collaboration with China. The line connects the Gara Djebilet iron ore mine in the western desert region to the cities of Tindouf and Bechar. This railway enables the first shipments of iron ore from the long-planned mine, a project involving partnerships between Algerian state miner Sonarem and China's Sinosteel. From Bechar, existing rail networks link to the Mediterranean coast, supplying raw materials to a Turkish-operated steel complex in Oran. The project aims to diversify Algeria's economy, which currently relies heavily on hydrocarbon exports for revenue.

On October 16, 2025, Australian iron ore producer Fenix Resources released its Q3 2025 operational report (i.e., Q1 of the Australian 2026 fiscal year). The company achieved multiple operational milestones during the quarter and signed a major mining agreement, laying the foundation for future production expansion. Iron Ore Shipments: In Q3 2025, the company completed 15 shipments , with total iron ore shipments reaching 885,000 mt, up 17% QoQ and 156% YoY , setting a new company record for quarterly shipments. By mine, shipments from the Iron Ridge project were 354,000 mt, the Shine project contributed 415,000 mt, and the Beebyn-W11 project contributed 117,000 mt. By product, lump ore shipments were 467,000 mt, up 47% QoQ and 198% YoY; fines shipments were 419,000 mt, up 6% QoQ and 121% YoY. Iron Ore Production: In Q3 2025, the company mined 964,000 mt of iron ore, up 13% QoQ and 107% YoY. Costs and Operations: The company's Q3 C1 cost was 75.7 Australian yuan/wmt (approximately $50/wmt), up 27.2% QoQ but down 4% YoY. Additionally, the company maintained a robust cash position, with a quarterly cash balance of 57.7 million Australian yuan (approximately $38.6 million). The company invested 13.1 million Australian yuan (approximately $8.8 million) during the quarter for the commissioning and construction of the Beebyn-W11 project and made a 20 million Australian yuan (approximately $13.4 million) upfront payment for the Weld Range project. Project Updates: In September this year, Fenix signed a 30-year Mining Right Agreement with Sinosteel Midwest Corporation (SMC), a subsidiary of Baowu Group, formally granting Fenix exclusive mining and export rights for the Weld Range iron ore project (with resources of approximately 290.3 million mt and an average grade of 56.77% Fe). According to the agreement, Fenix must maintain an annual production target of no less than 6 million mt and will collaborate with Baowu on market aspects to jointly pursue an export sales target of approximately 10 million mt per year. Furthermore, project development will proceed in phases: a Scoping Study is scheduled for completion in Q4 2025 to determine the overall development direction; this will be followed by a more detailed Feasibility Study (FS), expected to be completed in Q2 2026, providing the technical and economic basis for the final investment decision. FY2026 Guidance: The company's iron ore shipment target for FY2026 is 4-4.4 million mt, with a C1 cash cost target of 70-80 Australian yuan/wmt (approximately $46-54/wmt).