[SMM Daily Review: US-Iran Negotiations Kick Off, Silver Drifts Higher] SMM, August 3 – US-Iran negotiations kicked off, with risk-off sentiment intertwined with plummeting crude oil and a weakening US dollar. The market interpreted this as a net bullish factor, and silver prices rebounded. Spot trading was sluggish early this month, with both supply and demand remaining weak. Attention turns to guidance from US economic data.

[Central Bank Sends Easing Signals; Supply-Demand and Geopolitical Games Limit Aluminum Price Upside Room] Our comprehensive assessment shows that the macro front has improved recently, with the marginal constraints of interest rate hike expectations on the nonferrous metals sector continuing to ease. The proportion of liquid aluminum in China has kept rising. China’s central bank will implement accommodative monetary policies, step up counter-cyclical adjustments, and redouble efforts to expand domestic demand to steer the economy toward sustained, more favorable, and broader-based development. The persistent geopolitical risk premium in the Middle East has jointly underpinned aluminum prices, significantly boosting short-term market confidence. However, the ongoing commissioning of long-term aluminum capacity outside China, the recent softness in traditional end-use demand in China, combined with the repeated shifts in expectations for US Fed interest rate hikes and the uncertainties triggered by geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East, continue to exert certain pressure on the upside room for aluminum prices.

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Last Friday night, LME copper opened at $13,819.5/mt, touched a session high of $13,883/mt, then pulled back under pressure and dipped to $13,729.5/mt. It recouped some losses near the close and finally settled at $13,803/mt, up 0.03%. Trading volume was 16,800 lots, and open interest increased to 250,200 lots, up 3,988 lots from the previous trading day, indicating bullish additions. Last Friday night, the most-traded SHFE copper 2609 contract opened at 105,460 yuan/mt, rose to a session high of 105,780 yuan/mt, then drifted lower and dipped to 105,140 yuan/mt, and finally settled at 105,360 yuan/mt, down 0.09%.

1. Bidding Conditions This bidding project, Electromechanical Company Electric Installation Team 1, 2026 Old Residential Community Renovation Project in Tiedong District, Anshan City – Electric Engineering Wires and Cables (AGGZZBHGZHD260731307933), is initiated by the bid inviter, Ansteel Group Engineering Technology Development Co., Ltd., with self-raised funds. The project has met the conditions for public bidding, and public bidding is now conducted. 2. Project Overview and Bidding Scope 2.1 Project Name: Electromechanical Company Electric Installation Team 1, 2026 Old Residential Community Renovation Project in Tiedong District, Anshan City – Electric Engineering Wires and Cables 2.2 Conversion to Other Procurement Methods upon Bidding Failure: Not applicable 2.3 For the bidding content, scope, and scale, please refer to the attached Bill of Materials Appendix.pdf. 3. Bidder Qualification Requirements 3.1 Joint bidding is not permitted for this bidding. 3.2 The bidder shall meet the following qualification requirements: Please refer to the appendix (if any) 3.3 The bidder shall meet the following registered capital requirements: Production-type registered capital: 100 million yuan or above 3.4 The bidder shall meet the following performance requirements: One copy of scanned sales contracts and corresponding invoices for cables, 2025-2026 3.5 The bidder shall meet the following requirements for capability, finance, and others: Financial requirements: Please refer to the appendix (if any) Capability requirements: Provide the Industrial Product Production License (Cable Category) Other requirements: Please refer to the appendix (if any) 3.6 For projects subject to mandatory bidding by law, bids from dishonest persons subject to enforcement are invalid. 4. Obtaining the Bidding Documents 4.1 Any bidder who intends to participate in the bidding shall log into the Ansteel Smart Bidding Platform at http://bid.ansteel.cn to download the electronic bidding documents from 17:00, July 31, 2026 to 08:00, August 25, 2026 (Beijing time, the same hereinafter). Click to view bidding details:

[Beijing's H1 Passenger Car New L2 Assisted Driving Penetration Rate Reaches 77.5%, L3 Mass-Produced Models First to Land] At the Media Roundtable of the 2026 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference, Su Guobin, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, introduced that in H1 2026, the penetration rate of Level 2 combined assisted driving among new passenger cars in the city reached 77.5%, higher than the national average level of 70%; BAIC Arcfox Alpha S became one of the first L3-level conditional autonomous driving mass-produced car models nationwide, taking the lead in achieving legal road operation and commercial deployment of high-level autonomous driving; supported by the country’s first high-level autonomous driving demonstration zone, Beijing has cumulatively issued over 1,500 test licenses, with safe testing mileage exceeding 65 million kilometers. In terms of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei collaboration, Beijing is jointly building an intelligent connected NEV technology and ecology port with Tianjin and Hebei, which has attracted over 200 industry chain enterprises, with 53 signing and settling. Next, Beijing will focus on four aspects: industrialisation of high-level autonomous driving, “Dual Intelligence” 4 construction, core technology breakthroughs, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei industrial collaboration, to build a world-class industrial cluster.

SMM Weekly Stainless Steel Futures Review — week of July 27 – July 31, 2026. A hawkish Fed hold, deepening off-season demand weakness, and the first inventory build in weeks drag the benchmark contract down RMB 135/mt in the week

"Tin" Leading the Future: Industrial Transformation and Value Reshaping in a New Cycle Conference Background Currently, the global tin industry is at a historic turning point, traditional cyclical logic has been completely broken, and its strategic value has been fully underscored. In 2026, the tin market is presenting an unprecedentedly complex pattern and profound transformation: 1. Supply-Demand Pattern Undergoes Profound Restructuring, Strategic Attributes Elevated to Unprecedented Levels The global static reserve-to-production ratio of tin resources is only 14 years, with scarcity becoming increasingly pronounced. The supply side faces "triple pressures": Myanmar's production resumptions have been repeatedly disrupted, Indonesia's policies continue to tighten, and geopolitical risks in the DRC remain elevated. Resource constraints have become the new normal. Meanwhile, the demand structure is undergoing a fundamental shift, and tin has become a strategic resource linking traditional manufacturing and the digital future. 2. Price System Breaks Through Historical Highs, Industry Ecosystem Faces Restructuring In early 2026, SHFE tin prices broke through 470,000 yuan/mt, hitting an all-time high. This price breakthrough is not only a manifestation of supply-demand imbalance, but also a symbol of the value revaluation of the tin industry. Traditional trade models, risk management systems, and supply chain collaboration methods all urgently need innovative breakthroughs. 3. Technology-Driven and Green Transformation Foster a New Symbiotic Ecosystem Digital and intelligent technologies are deeply empowering the tin industry chain, the global green transition requires the tin industry to upgrade toward low-carbon and circular economy, recycled tin recovery and green smelting processes become the necessary path. All segments of the industry chain must shift from competition to collaboration, building an open, resilient, and innovative symbiotic system. Against this backdrop, August 19-21, 2026 in Changsha, Hunan held 2026 SMM (16th) Tin Industry Chain Conference will gather global industry elites to explore together. Hongchen Metals Trading Co., Ltd. will attend this grand event, discuss industry development trends with industry peers, and jointly promote the tin industry to new heights. Click to register now to attend, jointly witness and participate in this extraordinary and far-reaching industry event, and co-create a brilliant new chapter! Founded in April 2012, Hongchen Metals Trading Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Beijing, with representative offices in Shanghai, Yunnan, Tianjin, Hong Kong, and Thailand. After years of development, the company has built a comprehensive metals trading platform integrating import and export trade and domestic sales. Our core business focuses on tin ore, tungsten ore, tantalum-niobium ore, tin ingot, and other non-ferrous metals, earning broad recognition in and outside China. The company has an experienced trading and research team that has accumulated deep expertise and experience in non-ferrous metals industry operations, market price trends, trading and business execution, and has built strong upstream and downstream industry chain resources and warehousing and logistics networks, with business spanning major non-ferrous metal producing and consuming regions globally. Upholding the "integrity-based, service first" business philosophy, the company consistently serves every client with a professional, dedicated and responsible attitude. Looking ahead, Hong Kin Metals will deepen strategic collaboration with global partners, further expand its business scope in import and export trade and the integration of futures and physicals, while strengthening internal operational efficiency, continuously enhancing industry expertise and enriching resources in and outside China, striving to become a first-class non-ferrous metal trading service provider in the industry. Hong Kin Metals was established in April 2012, with its headquarters in Beijing. It has also set up representative offices in Shanghai, Yunnan, Tianjin, Hong Kong and Thailand. After years of development, the company has built a comprehensive metal trading platform integrating import and export trade and domestic sales. Our business focus on tin, tungsten, tantalum and other non-ferrous metals, and has gained wide recognition in both domestic and international markets. The company has accumulated profound expertise and experience on market price trends, transactions and operations in the metals industry with an experienced trading and research team. We have established a strong upstream and downstream industrial chain resources, warehousing and logistics network, with operations in major non-ferrous metals producing and consuming regions around the world. Hong Kin Metals adhering to the "integrity-based, service first" business philosophy, has always been professional, conscientious, responsible attitude to serve every customer. Hong Kin Metals will deepen the strategic cooperation with global partners, further expand the business scope of trading, enrich China and the global resources, and strive to be as a first-class trading company in the industry. Contact Cui Juan 18501019852 Mo Naiyun 15300056805 Long press and scan to register now 2026 SMM (16th) Tin Industry Chain Conference

The highest monthly rent for H800 in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region rose to 75,500 yuan (up 3.42%), and the highest per-card-hour rate rose to 13.11 yuan (up 3.39%), reflecting tight spot supply of Nvidia. Scattered resources are bulk-rented by platforms/operators and then subleased for profit, driving up listing prices; domestic computing power still needs to build market confidence as it enters the market, and is unlikely to replace Nvidia's high-end in the short term.

This week, the industry chain exhibited a diverging pattern, with upstream raw material and cobalt salt prices weakening while midstream and downstream material prices remained relatively stable. Trading in refined cobalt, intermediate products, cobalt sulphate, cobalt chloride, Co3O4, and cobalt powder was generally sluggish. Downstream buyers mostly maintained just-in-time procurement, as off-season demand was insufficient, and inventory pressure along with low-priced supply continued to weigh on market prices. Although some miners and smelters, supported by high-cost inventory, still intended to hold prices firm, traders and recycling companies became more active in selling, and the decline in the cost of refined cobalt reverse dissolution further strengthened market expectations of pushing for lower prices. In the short term, related product prices still face downward pressure. Ternary cathode precursor, ternary cathode material, and LCO prices remained stable overall. Leading ternary cathode precursor companies performed well in export orders, and domestic production schedules recovered somewhat, but small and medium-sized enterprises were still affected by the off-season. Demand for ternary cathode materials from the EV sector stayed at a high level; some battery cell enterprises stockpiled in advance, and August orders are expected to be stable with slight growth. Consumer-side demand remained mediocre. Affected by sluggish end-use demand and substitution by ternary cathode materials, LCO production and sales remained low, further narrowing enterprises' profit margins. Subsequent market recovery will still depend on the restocking pace in mid-to-late August and the release of demand during the September-October peak season.

[SMM Cobalt Lithium Morning Meeting Summary: Raw Material Price Divergence Intensifies; Energy Storage Demand Supports Continued Industry Prosperity] This week, the relevant material markets continued to diverge in performance. Upstream ore prices stopped falling and rebounded, but high-price transactions remained constrained. Some ex-China capacities gradually recovered, and market attention shifted from supply disruptions to the pace of new capacity releases. Salt products were supported by maintenance outages, tightening circulation of spot orders, and low inventories, leading to somewhat active spot transactions. However, downstream players still mainly made just-in-time procurement on price dips, and concentrated stockpiling has yet to emerge. The cobalt industry chain remained under pressure overall, with the price centers of refined cobalt, intermediate products, cobalt salts, and cobalt powder shifting downward. Off-season demand, inventory pressure, and low-priced cargoes continued to weigh on the market. Nickel sulphate inventories declined, and cost support strengthened somewhat. Prices of ternary cathode precursors and ternary cathode materials generally remained stable. The LFP, electrolyte, and sodium-ion battery sectors performed relatively strongly, with demand from energy storage, commercial vehicles, and Q3 stockpiling driving production schedules higher. Inventories of some products continued to decline. The anode and separator markets were generally stable. Different raw material varieties in the recycling sector showed divergent performance. The overall industry chain remained in a phase of concurrent demand improvement and cost pass-through.