Alcoa shares climbed sharply as LME aluminum prices reached their highest level in four years amid concerns over potential Chinese production cuts and continued Middle East supply disruptions. On May 26, LME three-month aluminum prices rose to USD 3,682/t, while the cash offer price reached USD 3,759/t, the highest level since March 2022. Alcoa shares increased from USD 71.38 on May 22 to USD 74.57 on May 26, gaining about 4.5%. Markets remain focused on possible output restrictions at Chinese smelters linked to energy and environmental inspections, while Middle East tensions continue to tighten global aluminum supply expectations.

This week, the domestic praseodymium-neodymium oxide market experienced narrow fluctuations, with prices remaining relatively stable overall while market sentiment saw minor shifts. Early in the week, firm pricing intentions from upstream separation plants and just-in-time procurement from large enterprises helped improve trading sentiment temporarily, prompting sellers to test higher offers and pushing prices slightly upward. However, persistent weakness in end-user demand and limited new orders from downstream magnetic material companies led to a generally pessimistic outlook on near-term consumption. As a result, downstream metal producers showed little enthusiasm for procurement, with price acceptance clearly constrained. When offers exceeded 720,000 RMB/ton, buying interest dropped significantly, and actual transactions faced resistance. Without sufficient momentum, prices eventually retreated to around 710,000 RMB/ton, forming a pattern of initial gains followed by a pullback. From a supply-demand perspective, some upstream separation plants are currently undergoing temporary suspensions or production cuts due to environmental inspections or maintenance, leading to a certain degree of supply contraction that provides underlying support for prices. Meanwhile, downstream demand remains weak, with no notable improvement in end-user consumption, leaving the market without strong positive catalysts. Overall, the market is characterized by weakness on both the supply and demand sides, with intense game-playing between upstream and downstream participants. Sellers show limited willingness to concede on prices, while buyers maintain a cautious wait-and-see approach, with actual transactions primarily driven by essential needs. In the short term, the praseodymium-neodymium oxide market is expected to continue in this stalemate, with ongoing tussling between the two sides and prices likely to move within a narrow range, with limited room for significant upward or downward movement.

Recently, the engineering construction acceptance inspection website published the environmental protection acceptance inspection for the "Annual 100,000-ton Spent Lithium Battery Recycling, Dismantling, and 20,000-ton Spent Lithium Iron Phosphate Powder Recycling Comprehensive Utilization Project" undertaken by a new energy technology company in Hunan, indicating the project is about to enter the production phase. The project will involve renovating an existing 2,000-ton lithium iron phosphate production line, replacing raw materials, auxiliary materials, and production equipment, and adding new equipment. Using 20,000 tons of spent lithium iron phosphate powder as the primary raw material.

On March 20, a company from Fujian specializing in hydrogen energy materials announced the public notice for the environmental protection acceptance inspection of the phased completion of its annual 1,500-ton high-end fluoropolymer project. The details of the project are as follows: The scope of this phased acceptance inspection covers a 100 t/a perfluorosulfonic acid resin production line and its supporting environmental protection facilities; the scale of the phased acceptance inspection is 100 t/a of perfluorosulfonic acid resin.

SMM March 13: This week, China’s domestic tungsten market exhibited high-level oscillations with intensified supply-demand competition. Multiple mines put products up for auction during the week, but transactions were bleak.As of March 13, tungsten prices remained largely stable, yet market sentiment became extremely divided.

Overall, cost support remains, but has not yet formed strong upward momentum, combined with aluminum enterprises' strong push for lower prices, aluminum fluoride prices in March are expected to be mainly stable with a slight weakening trend.