On March 18, Geely released its full-year 2025 results report. In 2025, Geely's total revenue was 345.2 billion yuan, up 25% YoY; net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 16.85 billion, up 0.2% YoY; and the final dividend per share was HKD 0.5.

March 17 – This afternoon, Albemarle's auction for spodumene concentrate concluded. The auction lot consisted of 7,634 dry metric tons (dmt) of 5.49% spodumene concentrate sourced from Wodgina. The final transaction price was RMB 15,617 per metric ton, on a ex-warehouse Zhenjiang Port basis.

SMM Nickel News, March 16: Macro and Market News: (1) The financial statistics report for February released by the central bank showed that at month-end February, broad money (M2) balance stood at 349.22 trillion yuan, up 9% YoY; cumulative aggregate social financing for the first two months was 9.6 trillion yuan, 316.2 billion yuan more than the same period last year; new RMB loans in the first two months increased by 5.61 trillion yuan; the balance of domestic and foreign currency deposits was 345.72 trillion yuan, up 8.8% YoY; and the month-end RMB deposit balance was 337.94 trillion yuan, up 8.7% YoY. (2) The central bank said in its tender announcement for open-market outright reverse repo operations that on March 16, 2026, the People's Bank of China will conduct 500 billion yuan of outright reverse repo operations through a fixed-quantity, interest-rate bidding, and multiple-price allocation method, with a tenor of six months (182 days). Spot Market: On March 16, the SMM #1 refined nickel price fell by 2,650 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Spot premiums: Jinchuan #1 refined nickel averaged 6,700 yuan/mt, up 50 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; China mainstream branded electrodeposited nickel was at -300-400 yuan/mt. Futures Market: The most-traded SHFE nickel contract (2605) fell sharply intraday and closed the morning session at 135,990 yuan/mt, down 1.83%. Tensions in the Middle East pushed up oil prices, intensifying inflation concerns. The market expects the US Fed may slow the pace of interest rate cuts, while the US dollar continued to strengthen, creating clear pressure on nickel prices. Despite significant macro pressure, the industry-level support logic has not changed, and market concerns over tightening supply of nickel intermediate products remain. Short term, the most-traded SHFE nickel contract is expected to move sideways in the 135,000-145,000 yuan/mt range.

[SMM Titanium Express] LB Group issued a price adjustment notice. Effective March 16, prices for all Billions brand TiO₂ products will increase by RMB 500/ton for domestic market and USD 100/ton for overseas market. This marks the second price hike announcement this month, as high raw material costs continue to pressure industry profitability, driving the market upward.

On March 16, news emerged that Samsung SDI has signed a contract with a US energy company for the supply of energy storage batteries. The contract value is 1.5 trillion Korean Won, approximately 6.915 billion RMB. The supply is planned to occur in phases from 2026 to 2029, spanning four years. The batteries will be produced at a factory in Indiana, USA, a joint venture between SDI and Stellantis. This factory was previously dedicated to producing power batteries with an original capacity of 30GWh. Subsequently, three-quarters of its production lines were converted to produce energy storage batteries, with a planned capacity of approximately 21GWh. Production is scheduled to commence by the end of 2026.

Li Auto (02015.HK) announced that operating expenses in Q4 2025 were RMB 5.6 billion ($797 million), an increase of 5.8% from RMB 5.3 billion in Q4 2024 and a decrease of 1.3% from RMB 5.6 billion in Q3 2025. R&D expenses in Q4 2025 were RMB 3 billion ($431.4 million), an increase of 25.3% from RMB 2.4 billion in Q4 2024 and an increase of 1.4% from RMB 3 billion in Q3 2025. The increase in R&D expenses from Q4 2024 was mainly due to costs related to AI and other projects supporting our expanded product portfolio and technologies.

SMM March 11 News: According to official sources from Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co., Ltd., the company plans to sell 33 tons of crude selenium. The pricing mechanism will be based on bidding for the premium/discount. The minimum premium is set at 10,500 RMB/ton. This project requires three registered participants to proceed with the bidding. The registration deadline is 5:00 PM on March 16, 2026, and the bidding is scheduled to start at 3:00 PM on March 17, 2026. Given the recent positive trading conditions for crude selenium tenders, with relatively high transaction prices, market insiders anticipate that the outcome of this premium bidding will be worth watching.

Iron ore futures showed strength today, with the main contract I2605 ultimately closing at 795.5 RMB per ton, up 1.34% from the previous trading session.

[SMM Titanium Express] Yunnan National Titanium Metal issued a price adjustment notice. Based on current market conditions, effective March 10, all grades of sponge titanium prices will increase by RMB 2,000/ton for domestic market and USD 300/ton for overseas market.

According to the Fu'an City Development and Reform Bureau, as outlined in its 2026 economic and social development plan released on March 6, the city is set to continuously consolidate its leading advantage in the stainless steel new materials industry. A key focus for the year is accelerating the construction and implementation of major downstream projects, specifically highlighting Runhengxin's 600,000-ton stainless steel cold-rolling project and a new titanium alloy materials manufacturing industrial park. Through these strategic capacity expansions, Fu'an aims to push the total output value of its stainless steel new materials industry to 246 billion RMB in 2026, targeting a year-on-year growth rate of over 5%.