SMM will delist 14 price points for various steel types from specific mills effective April 1, 2026, due to prolonged stockouts. Clients should adjust their price usage to avoid business disruptions.

SMM launches the "SMM China Titanium Dioxide Price Index" to provide a transparent pricing reference and reflect market trends, effective from March 20, 2026.

Effective March 17, 2026, SMM will officially launch the following two new price points: "SMM Battery-Grade Lithium Carbonate (CIF South Korea)" and "SMM Battery-Grade Lithium Hydroxide (CIF South Kor

SMM launches graded price points for hafnium oxide and crystal hafnium to enhance pricing reference for the hafnium industry.

Dear users, On August 29, 2025, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of China jointly issued the "Secondary Lead Ingot (GB/T 21181-2025)" (hereinafter referred to as the "new national standard"), which will officially take effect on March 1, 2026. Compared to the "Secondary Lead and Lead Alloy Ingot (GB/T 21181-2017)" (hereinafter referred to as the "old national standard"), the new national standard revised the scope. It changed from "This standard applies to secondary lead and its alloy ingots produced by smelting and processing using lead-containing scrap as raw material, mainly used in batteries, alloys, chemical industry, and other fields" to "This document applies to secondary lead ingots produced by pyrometallurgical smelting and processing using waste lead-acid batteries and recycled lead and lead alloy materials as raw materials, mainly used in lead-acid batteries, alloys, chemical industry, and other fields." Regarding secondary lead grades, the ZSPb99.994 and ZSPb99.992 secondary lead ingot grades were deleted the ZSPb99.990, ZSPb99.986, and ZSPb99.983 secondary lead ingot grades were added. Details are as follows: With the development and changes in the secondary lead industry, the actual production and use of secondary lead in the market in recent years have already diverged significantly from the old national standard. In addition to changes in the main element lead content, the bismuth (Bi) content has also undergone substantial changes. According to SMM's understanding of major producers and users of secondary lead, the distribution by bismuth content usage is as follows: enterprises using bismuth content ≤0.008% account for about 15% those using ≤0.012% account for about 60% and those using ≤0.015% account for about 25%. Furthermore, based on its price assessment methodology, SMM solicited market suggestions on the specifications for the secondary refined lead price. Market feedback recommended that the price collection standard for SMM's secondary refined lead price reference the new national standard for secondary lead, with grade ZSPb99.99 accounting for 24%, grade ZSPb99.986 for 66%, and grade ZSPb99.983 for 10%. Considering that the current actual usage in the secondary lead market covers the three grades specified in the new national standard for secondary lead, SMM will define the specifications for the national and regional prices of secondary refined lead as ZSPb99.983-99.99%, based on real market transaction conditions. The new standard will be officially implemented from January 1, 2026, serving as the reference standard for SMM's price assessments. During this period, SMM will continue to collect suggestions and feedback from all parties, closely follow changes in the lead industry chain market, and identify and optimize SMM prices to better serve the industry! For any questions regarding prices, please contact lead analyst Wenming Xia at 021-51666839. SMM Information & Technology Co., Ltd. Lead and Zinc Research Division December 25, 2025

Announcement on Adjusting the Quotation Frequency of Battery-Grade Lithium Fluoride Prices from Weekly to Daily

Discontinuation of Iron Ore Data Points in the SMM Database

Dear User, Currently, lithium carbonate prices are experiencing significant fluctuations, leading to markedly increased cost volatility for lithium metal, for which lithium carbonate serves as the primary raw material. To more promptly and accurately reflect market conditions for lithium metal, SMM plans to increase the publication frequency of prices for both industrial-grade lithium metal and battery-grade lithium metal from weekly updates to daily updates . The updates will be released at 12:00 PM Beijing Time on each working day for market reference: 1. Battery-grade lithium metal, Specification: Li≥99.9% 2. Industrial-grade lithium metal, Specification: Li≥99% We welcome more relevant enterprises across the industry chain to participate and support SMM in better serving new energy industry chain-related companies. Wang Cong 021-51666838 wangcong@smm.cn Feng Disheng 021-51666714 fengdisheng@smm.cn Wang Zihan 021-51666914 wangzihan@smm.cn Zhang Jing 021-51666878 faithzhang@smm.cn SMM New Energy Research Team January 8, 2026

Dear users, As the core raw material for the steel industry, the price fluctuations of iron ore directly determine the cost and profit stability of the steel industry chain. In recent years, the endowment of global iron ore resources has shown significant changes, with the proportion of high-grade ore production continuously declining. To actively respond to market changes, enhance the guiding significance of the index for the Spot Market, and improve market information transparency, SMM has decided to launch the "MMI 61% Iron Ore Port Stock Index (IOPI)" and the "MMI 61% Iron Ore Seaborne Index (IOSI)" from 5th January 2026. The specific price point details are as follows: Index Price Point: MMI 61% Iron Ore Port Stock Index (IOPI) Quality specifications: Fe content base 61%, aluminum base 2.5%, silica base 4.5%, phosphorus base 0.1%, sulfur base 0.02%, Moisture base 8% Definition: FOT Qingdao Port, VAT included. Normalized for any Chinese Port. Unit: RMB/wet tonnes Quantity: min 5,000 tonnes Timing: within 1 week Payment Terms: Payment at sight Publication: Working Day, 6 PM Beijing Time Index Price Point: MMI 61% Iron Ore Seaborne Index (IOSI) Quality specifications: Fe content base 61%, aluminum base 2.5%, silica base 4.5%, phosphorus base 0.1%, sulfur base 0.02%, Moisture base 8% Definition: CFR Qingdao Port. Normalized for any Chinese Port. Unit: USD/dry tonnes Quantity: min 50,000 tonnes Timing: within 2 months Payment Terms: L/C or payment at sight Publication: Working Day, 6 PM Beijing Time SMM Iron Ore Research January 5, 2026

Dear Useres, With the deep reshaping of the new energy industry chain, the strategic position of sulphur, a traditional bulk raw material, is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Historically, price fluctuations in sulphur-sulphuric acid primarily affected traditional industries such as phosphate fertilisers and titanium dioxide. However, as lithium iron phosphate (LFP) has become the mainstream cathode material for power batteries, the production of its core precursor, iron phosphate, heavily relies on high-purity phosphoric acid, which in turn uses sulphuric acid as its raw material. This enables price fluctuations in the sulphur-sulphuric acid chain to be directly and rapidly transmitted to the cost of LFP. Similarly, in areas such as nickel-cobalt smelting and precursor preparation, sulphuric acid is a key auxiliary material, and its price directly impacts the cost of products like battery-grade nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate. The emergence of new demands: Sulphur itself, as a key sulphur source for lithium sulphide and sulphide solid-state electrolytes (such as LPSC), is seeing its material purity and supply stability begin to attract attention from cutting-edge battery technology R&D. As an authoritative information institution long dedicated to the non-ferrous metals and new energy materials sectors, SMM, after a period of consolidation and market surveys, plans to introduce new sulphur price points starting December 12, aiming to provide the market with more precise pricing anchors and price references. The specific new price points are as follows: Sulphur: Solid, Sulphur (S) content ≥99.0%, Price Description: Ex-factory price (buyer's self pick-up price), including 13% VAT. SMM New Energy Research Team December 04, 2025 Sulphur Price