JSL has successfully commissioned a new 1.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) stainless steel melt shop (SMS) in Indonesia ahead of schedule through a joint venture. This milestone brings the company's total annual melting capacity to 4.2 MTPA, reinforcing its raw material security and integrated growth strategy. Concurrently, JSL announced a fresh investment of approximately $108 million (₹900 crore) to augment its cold rolling capacities at its Hisar and Kharagpur facilities in India, expected to be operational by Q2 FY28. These combined upstream and downstream expansions are tailored to produce high-value, thinner cold-rolled products, strategically positioning the company to target a global sales volume of 3.5 MTPA by FY29 with a projected double-digit compound annual growth rate.

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Overnight, LME copper opened at $11,816/mt. After dipping to $11,798/mt in early trading, its center rose sharply to a high of $12,395/mt, then hovered at highs, and finally closed at $12,221/mt, up 3.27%. Trading volume reached 52,000 lots, and open interest stood at 292,000 lots, down 944 lots from the previous trading day, mainly reflecting bears cutting positions overall. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2605 contract opened at 95,010 yuan/mt. After the opening, its center moved higher to a high of 95,900 yuan/mt, after which copper prices maintained a fluctuating trend at highs. Near the close, it dipped to 94,530 yuan/mt and finally closed at 93,840 yuan/mt, up 2.12%. Trading volume reached 120,000 lots, and open interest stood at 198,000 lots, down 6,741 lots from the previous trading day, mainly reflecting bears cutting positions throughout the day.

[Shanghai Spot Copper] Looking ahead to tomorrow, the Shanghai spot copper market is expected to remain in a tug-of-war. Copper prices declined somewhat during the day, and downstream enterprises showed stronger restocking sentiment, but considering the heavy concentrated purchases already made last week, actual incremental buying was relatively limited. Inventory side, according to SMM, combined social inventory in Shanghai and Jiangsu fell by about 41,600 mt, showing a sharp destocking trend. During the day, supplier quotations were steady at first and then declined, with suppliers actively selling as premiums rebounded, and the sell-off put pressure on spot prices. In addition, some suppliers had already quoted against the SHFE copper 2604 contract using cargoes with invoices dated next month during the day, indirectly reflecting moderate sales volume within the month and strong willingness to sell among suppliers. Overall, amid the tug-of-war between faster destocking and supplier sell-offs, Shanghai spot copper premiums are expected to remain at the current level tomorrow.

Vice Minister of Commerce Sheng Qiuping said at the launch ceremony of the 2026 National Home Appliances, Digital and Smart Products Consumption Season held today that since 2024, the implementation of the home appliance trade-in policy and subsidy policies for the purchase of new digital and smart products had achieved remarkable results. Driven by these policies, by the end of 2025, sales volume of the above categories exceeded 280 million units, with sales revenue exceeding 970 billion yuan, driving the market size of both home appliances and mobile phones in 2025 past 1 trillion yuan and setting a new historical high.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) released its 2025 performance report, showing that in 2025, the company's net profit (excluding GAC data) increased by 16% to US$1.34 billion, and core profit increased by 7% to US$2.53 billion, mainly due to the rise in the average real price of aluminum and the increase in total sales volume. EGA's EBITDA in 2025 was AED 9.28 billion (US$2.53 billion), compared to AED 8.69 billion (US$2.37 billion) in 2024. In 2025, EGA's foundry metal production reached a record high of 2.84 million tons, up from 2.77 million tons in 2024. In 2025, EGA's sales volume of low-carbon aluminum products increased by 70%, reaching approximately 196,000 tons.

SQM reported the increase attributing the result to a favorable market pricing environment that boosted average lithium prices and consequently enhanced performance.The world's second-largest lithium producer stated that its net profit for the fourth quarter reached $183.8 million, a 53% increase compared to the same period last year. Revenue for the quarter grew by 23.3% to $1.32 billion, up from $1.07 billion in the year-ago period. Gross profit for the quarter increased by 52.7%, reaching $448.5 million.CEO Ricardo Ramos: "Our Q4 2025 results reflect record sales volumes from both of our lithium businesses." He added that in November, they began seeing early signs of an improving supply-demand balance, driven by stronger-than-expected demand for energy storage systems.