A blocked Strait of Hormuz would upend global methanol supplies, hammer conventional methanol markets, and elevate green methanol’s strategic value, pushing China to diversify imports and boost green methanol for supply security.

[SMM Tin Morning Update: SHFE Tin Prices Dropped Slightly in the Night Session Before Fluctuating and Rebounding; Downstream Enterprises’ Willingness to Purchase Cooled Significantly]

[SMM Lead Morning Meeting Minutes: Mixed Macro News, Lead Prices Continued to Consolidate] Premier Li Qiang delivered the Government Work Report: China’s 2026 economic growth target was 4.5%–5%, with the deficit ratio at around 4%. At present, the impact of the Chinese New Year holiday on the domestic market has largely dissipated, except that maintenance at some lead smelters has yet to resume…

Today, the most-traded BC copper 2604 contract opened at 90,100 yuan/mt. Early in the session, the center maintained a fluctuating downward trend and hit bottom at 88,740 yuan/mt, then fluctuated upward to a high of 90,860 yuan/mt. After the afternoon open, the center fell, and it finally closed at 89,670 yuan/mt, down 0.16%. Open interest rose to 6,128 lots, up 232 lots from the previous trading day, while trading volume rose to 6,338 lots, down 2,507 lots from the previous trading day. On the macro front, market concerns that tensions in the Middle East would further push up inflation expectations drove the US dollar index to close higher, weighing on copper prices. High inflation expectations in the US weakened market expectations for further US Fed interest rate cuts, also weighing on copper prices. In addition, global copper visible inventory continued to build up, further dragging on copper prices. Fundamentals, as imported supplies continued to arrive, overall market circulating supply remained ample. Demand side, downstream enterprises had resumed work and production, and with the pullback in copper prices, consumption continued to recover. Inventory, as of Thursday, March 5, SMM copper inventories in major regions nationwide rose 8.56% WoW from last Thursday. The SHFE copper 2604 contract closed at 101,080 yuan/mt. Based on the BC copper 2604 contract at 89,670 yuan/mt, its after-tax price was 101,327 yuan/mt. The price spread between the SHFE copper 2604 contract and BC copper was -247 yuan/mt. The spread remained in backwardation and widened from the previous day.

In February 2026, the operating rate of secondary copper rod was 7.98%, above expectations of 7.46%, down 9.7 percentage points MoM and down 23.72 percentage points YoY. In February 2026, China’s secondary copper rod market, jointly driven by the Chinese New Year holiday and policy uncertainty, went through a full cyclical evolution of “pre-holiday volatility and positioning...

[SMM Aluminum Price Weekly Review: Middle East Geopolitical Conflict Drove a Sharp Surge in Aluminum Prices; In the Short Term, Aluminum Prices Are Expected to Hold Up Well]

According to SMM, as of February 27, 2026, the days of inventories for domestic aluminum rod plants were recorded at 12.7 days, an increase of 8.6 days from before the holiday.In the first week after the holiday, the weekly operating rate of the domestic aluminum wire and cable industry rebounded to 57%, up 4 percentage points MoM, significantly higher than the pre-holiday low of 53%.

[SMM Lead Morning Meeting Minutes: Bullish and Bearish Factors Coexisted in Domestic and Overseas Markets; Lead Prices Were Expected to Remain Consolidated] US Treasury Secretary Bessent: A 15% global tariff might be implemented this week, pledged to safeguard the Persian Gulf, and hinted that more measures were forthcoming. Recently, lead-acid battery enterprises in the domestic market basically resumed production, and the overall operating rate in March rebounded sharply from February…

[Industrial Silicon Prices Fluctuated; Polysilicon Price Sentiment Was Weak]: This week, the silicon metal market fluctuated significantly on news, falling first and then rising. As of March 5, SMM east China oxygen-blown #553 silicon was at 9,000-9,100 yuan/mt, with the transaction center moving down WoW; some suppliers quoted at 9,200 yuan/mt. The futures market fell first and then rose, with large fluctuations; amid disruptions from news such as expectations for Xinjiang electricity prices and environmental protection, futures prices recovered from the bottom. As futures prices rose, trading firms engaging in both spot and futures market raised their quotes accordingly; silicon enterprises held quotes steady or increased them by 100 yuan/mt. Low-priced supply in the market shifted from spot-futures to silicon enterprises, and downstream users purchased as needed, selecting lower-priced offers.

Meanwhile, the Chinese New Year break for die-casting zinc alloy enterprises was extended longer than expected, increasing slightly by 0.4 days from the pre-holiday expectation of 23.1 days to 23.5 days.