Vedanta Resources’ Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has commenced a 60-day maintenance shutdown aimed at improving operational reliability across its mining and processing facilities and supporting future production growth. The company stated that the maintenance program covers key mining, processing, and supporting infrastructure assets and represents an important step in the mine’s ongoing operational recovery. Vedanta has previously committed to investing more than US$1 billion in KCM over the next five years to restore and expand production capacity. As one of Zambia’s major copper producers, Vedanta aims to increase KCM’s annual copper output to more than 300,000 tonnes in the coming years.

【SMM Steel】Taiwan's CSC is advising downstream customers to submit orders early for production planning as multiple facilities begin scheduled maintenance starting June. The schedule includes a 15-day shutdown at wire rod mill No.2 from June 26 to July 10, and a 24-day maintenance at the billet factory from June 11 to July 4. Bar mill No.2 will assist with rolling during the wire rod shutdown, and billets needed for deliveries before mid-July are already prepared. This marks CSC's third consecutive year of summer intensive maintenance to prepare capacity for H2 auto and construction demand.

During the survey period (May 26–June 1), the rebar rolling line operating rate in the Central China region remained stable, while the capacity utilization rate edged up.

June 1, 2026 — South Africa's national power utility Eskom announced on Friday, May 29, that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) had officially approved a temporary preferential electricity price of 0.62 rand/kWh for struggling ferrochrome producers Samancor Chrome and the joint venture enterprise between Glencore and Merafe Resources.

Since late April, aluminum billet processing fees in China's three major consumption regions staged a strong rebound, with South China taking the lead. Processing fees of φ120 aluminum billets (Guangdong) hit a Q2 low of -40 yuan/mt on April 16, then surged rapidly, approaching the 500 yuan/mt mark by month-end in May, and reaching a new yearly high of 490 yuan/mt on May 28. SMM believed there were three main reasons...

This week (May 22–28, 2026), the average operating rate of primary lead smelters across the three provinces was 62.98%, down 3.47 percentage points WoW. A large smelter in Henan recently commenced equipment maintenance, which weighed on the regional operating rate. The maintenance is expected to be completed by month-end, and the smelter will resume normal production next week, at which point the regional operating rate will rebound accordingly. A small-to-medium-sized smelter in Hunan entered a maintenance phase this week and plans to resume production in late July, causing the local operating rate to edge down. Smelters in other regions of China maintained stable production with no shutdowns or suspensions, and operating rates remained flat WoW.