On March 31, the National Grid announced that the Shaanxi-Henan ± 800 kV UHV DC project, the final project of the "three exchanges and nine direct" projects in the National "14th Five-Year" plan, with a total investment of 19 billion yuan.It starts in Yulin, Shaanxi, and ends in Kaifeng, Henan, passing through Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan provinces. The total length of the line is 728 kilometers, the transmission capacity is 8 million kilowatts, and it is planned to be completed and put into operation in 2028.

On March 31, the National Grid announced that the Panxi UHV AC project, the first UHV AC project to start construction during the "14th Five-Year Plan" of the National Grid, has a total investment of about 23.2 billion yuan. The project will pass through 12 counties (districts) in Liangshan, Yibin, and Leshan, build two 1000 kV substations in Panxi and Chuannan, and expand Tianfu South Station. The total length of the line is 994 kilometers, and it is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2028.

SK On will transition to a unified production system centered on its SK Battery America (SKBA) operations in Georgia to improve efficiency in North America. According to the company on the 3rd, starting April 6 (local time), production volumes from SKBA’s first plant will be transferred to the second plant. In addition, part of the second plant’s production lines will be converted from electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing to energy storage system (ESS) production. The Georgia Plant 1 has an annual capacity of 10GWh and began commercial operations in the first quarter of 2022, while Plant 2 has a capacity of 12GWh and started operations in the fourth quarter of 2022.

This week, against the backdrop of fluctuating upward copper prices, the secondary copper industry chain showed a complex situation in which extremely tight upstream raw material supply coexisted with persistent negative margins for downstream finished products. In the secondary copper rod market, SMM data showed that the operating rate fell further to 5.45% this week, down 0.38 percentage points MoM and 25.43 percentage points YoY

[SMM Analysis]Weak Supply-Demand Pattern; Secondary Aluminum Prices Were Expected to Come Under Pressure and Pull Back in April

Overall, cost support remained strong, supply tightened while demand stayed stable. As tender prices became clear, aluminum fluoride prices were generally raised by around 800 yuan/mt in line with the guidance. Going forward, close attention should be paid to dynamic changes in raw material costs and adjustments in downstream procurement pace.

Supply glut, cautious demand, and fading cost support drag the benchmark contract down RMB 205/mt in the week of March 30 – April

This week, ferrous metals were in the doldrums. The main logic during the week remained weakening cost support. On Tuesday, Iran proposed charging transit fees for the Strait of Hormuz, while Trump made conciliatory remarks, saying that “even if the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed, he would still be willing to end military action against Iran.” Market expectations for tighter crude oil supply weakened, and declines in the energy sector dragged down the coal sector, weakening the cost-side logic. During the week, inventories of the five major steel products continued to decline, but apparent demand remained at a low level for the same period in previous years, providing limited fundamental-driven momentum to futures. In the spot market, purchasing interest was average, mainly focused on restocking at low prices. Spot prices were relatively firm, and the spot-futures price spread widened somewhat......

[Zinc Concentrate Production] According to SMM, a mine in Southwest China resumed production and operations in early March. As output increases in April, zinc concentrates output is expected to rise by more than 500 mt in metal content MoM.

[Zinc Concentrate Production] According to SMM, a mine in North China resumed production and operations in mid-March, and plans to continue ramping up production in April, which is expected to increase zinc concentrates output by around 1,000 mt in metal content MoM.