Walk the bauxite-alumina-aluminum value chain across Central Asia's five republics and the picture resolves quickly: one country runs the whole chain, one runs a piece of it, and three play no meaningful role at all. That picture, however, may be on the verge of a significant shift.

This week, the Chilean government officials are visiting India and the Indian government has setup a meeting with the major industry players including Adani, Vedanta, Hindalco etc.The agenda includes potential agreements on import of ore's from Chile. A team from Codelco, is also part of the visit, and it is highly likely that a supply agreement for copper concentrate between Codelco and Adani new smelter will be signed.

According to customs data, in August 2024, China's total FeNi+NPI imports were 522,300 mt in physical content, down 36.4% MoM and 42.6% YoY.

In July, China's copper cathode output was 1.0282 million mt, up 2.31% MoM (+23,200 mt) and 11.05% YoY, exceeding the expected 1.0166 million mt by 11,600 mt. The output from January to July totalled 6.9465 million mt, up 461,400 mt YoY (+7.11% YoY).

According to the SMM survey, China's stainless steel production in July 2024 was approximately 3.1838 million mt, down 1.44% MoM and 2.13% YoY.

SHANGHAI, Jun 1 (SMM) – Before 2020, NPI capacity was transferring from China to Indonesia, thus China's market share gradually shrank.