Against the backdrop of accelerating global energy transition and digital economy development, silver—a strategic metal possessing both industrial and financial attributes—is witnessing profound transformation across its industry chain. On one hand, emerging sectors such as PV, NEV, and 5G communications are driving continuously climbing demand for silver, propelling the industry toward higher value-added and greener upgrades; on the other hand, resource constraints, technological barriers, and market fluctuations are imposing higher demands on industry chain resilience, urgently requiring innovation-driven coordinated development across the entire chain. Dual Drivers of Policy and Market Under China's "dual carbon" goals and the global ESG investment wave, the silver industry faces pressing needs for green production, circular utilization, and low-carbon technologies. The NDRC's "14th Five-Year Plan for Circular Economy Development" explicitly calls for strengthening the circular utilization of precious metal resources, while international silver price fluctuations and geopolitical risks are compelling enterprises to enhance supply chain autonomy and controllability. Against this backdrop, the Silver Industry Chain Innovation Conference has emerged, aiming to build a collaborative platform integrating government, industry, academia, research, and end-use applications, to address industry pain points, and to lead the industry toward high-end, intelligent, and internationalized advancement. Innovation Needs and Industry Pain Points Technological Breakthroughs: Silver purification processes, nano-silver material applications, and scrap recycling technologies urgently need breakthroughs to meet the demand for high-purity, low-cost silver in emerging fields such as PV silver paste and flexible electronics. Industry Chain Coordination: Information barriers exist across mining, smelting and processing, and end-use applications segments, requiring digital tools to achieve optimized resource allocation and risk sharing. Green Transformation: Traditional smelting processes are energy-intensive and highly polluting, necessitating the promotion of clean production technologies and circular economy models in response to global carbon neutrality commitments. Market Expansion: Silver's application potential in frontier fields such as hydrogen energy and quantum computing has yet to be fully explored, requiring strengthened cross-industry collaboration and standard-setting. Conference Objectives and Value Themed "Silver Chain Innovation · Intelligent Creation for the Future," this conference brings together global silver industry chain leaders, research institutions, financial institutions, and policymakers for in-depth dialogue around three core topics: technological R&D, supply chain optimization, and market expansion. Through releasing industry white papers, establishing innovation alliances, and signing major projects, the conference aims to drive the silver industry's transformation from "resource dependence" to "technology leadership," providing critical material support for the global energy revolution and digital economy. IKOI S.p.A will attend this grand event to discuss industry development trends with industry peers and jointly propel the silver industry to new heights. Click to register now. Join us to witness and participate in this extraordinary and far-reaching industry event, and together create a brilliant new chapter! IKOI, established in 1977, is a global leader in pyrometallurgical processes for precious metal refineries, mints, and jewelry markets. Currently, it has 3 major product lines: COMPACT integrated fully automatic gold and silver ingot casting systems, FCC FLAMELESS CASTING CHAMBER® fully automatic delivery bar systems, and the acid-free separation technology ALS system that physically separates gold and silver. IKOI's vision is to create safe, efficient, and green precious metal processing methods. IKOI's mission is to bring innovative and sustainable technologies to the precious metal industry. Contact Information Ni Yong 187 0185 9684 Long press to scan the QR code to register now 2026 SMM (7th) Silver Industry Chain Innovation Conference

In active response to the national "dual carbon" strategic deployment, seizing the development opportunities of the hydrogen energy commercial vehicle industry, and facilitating the green and low-carbon transformation of the logistics and transportation sector, in May 2026, Gongqing (Shanghai) New Energy Co., Ltd. and FAW Jiefang officially signed a cooperation agreement on the joint development of hydrogen fuel cell heavy-duty trucks. This strategic cooperation focuses on the large-scale commercial deployment of hydrogen energy heavy-duty trucks, representing a key strategic move by both parties to deepen their presence in the green commercial vehicle sector and jointly build a zero-carbon logistics ecosystem. Meanwhile, phased large-scale promotion targets have been established, with a plan to cumulatively deploy and operate 1,000 units of hydrogen energy heavy-duty trucks within two years, continuously amplifying the demonstration effect of hydrogen-powered transportation capacity. It is understood that the first batch of projects under this cooperation is targeted at the joint development of 200 units of 49 mt-class hydrogen energy heavy-duty trucks , leveraging FAW Jiefang's mature commercial vehicle R&D and manufacturing system, combined with China's top fuel cell core technologies, to create high-performance hydrogen energy heavy-duty truck products adapted to heavy-load transportation scenarios. This car model brings together four core advantages, with comprehensive performance leading the industry among similar products. It can achieve lossless cold start at ultra-low temperatures of -30°C , perfectly adapted to extreme cold conditions in northern regions. Its refueling efficiency is outstanding, with a single hydrogen refueling time of only about 10 minutes and a driving range exceeding 500 kilometers. At the same time, the vehicle's hydrogen consumption per 100 kilometers is better than the industry average, and the three electric systems (power battery, drive motor and electronic control system) have achieved an IP68 high-level protection rating. After multiple rounds of rigorous commercial verification, it can be widely adapted to diverse scenarios such as trunk logistics, mining and industrial transfer, and heavy-load port transportation, demonstrating exceptional adaptability to operating conditions and operational stability. As an industry leader in China's commercial vehicle sector, FAW Jiefang possesses over 70 years of technological accumulation and industrial experience. It has established a comprehensive vehicle R&D system and intelligent manufacturing capacity, holds production qualifications for all categories of commercial vehicles, and has long been deeply engaged in the hydrogen fuel cell commercial vehicle field. It is a benchmark enterprise in China for hydrogen energy commercial vehicle R&D deployment and large-scale application, providing solid assurance for the quality and performance of the cooperatively developed car model. Gongqing (Shanghai) New Energy focuses on innovative development in the hydrogen energy commercial transportation sector, with core businesses covering hydrogen fuel cell commercial vehicle operations, hydrogen refueling station investment and construction, and customized green logistics solutions. Based in the core area of the Yangtze River Delta and serving the national market, the enterprise has built an integrated full-chain service system encompassing "vehicle procurement + operations management + hydrogen refueling + after-sales support." It also deeply collaborates with leading domestic hydrogen energy technology enterprises such as Shanghai Refire Energy Group, integrating advantages in large power fuel cell system R&D and industrial integration, continuously advancing the commercialization of hydrogen energy heavy-duty trucks, and striving to build a benchmark for China's hydrogen energy smart logistics ecosystem. Jin Wubao, Chairman of Gongqing (Shanghai) New Energy, stated at the signing ceremony that under the "dual carbon" goals, hydrogen energy heavy-duty trucks have become a core track for the green transformation of commercial vehicles and carbon reduction in heavy-load logistics. FAW Jiefang's vehicle manufacturing heritage and product quality advantages, combined with Shanghai Refire Energy's full-stack in-house R&D capabilities in fuel cell systems and core parts, are highly aligned with the enterprise's development strategy. The joint development of 200 units of 49 mt hydrogen energy heavy-duty trucks marks a new starting point for multi-party collaborative empowerment. Going forward, the plan is to continue advancing the procurement and deployment of over 1,000 units of hydrogen energy heavy-duty trucks, continuously expanding the scale of hydrogen energy heavy-duty truck operations, deepening collaboration across the entire industry chain, expanding diversified zero-carbon application scenarios, and jointly empowering China's energy structure transformation and green upgrading of the logistics industry. A relevant executive of FAW Jiefang stated that this tripartite collaborative cooperation with Gongqing New Energy and Shanghai Refire Energy has achieved a powerful synergy of hardcore vehicle manufacturing capabilities, market operation resources, and core hydrogen energy technologies. In the future, the enterprise will advance vehicle R&D, production, and delivery with high standards and high efficiency, while simultaneously providing dedicated after-sales services throughout the entire life cycle, striving to create a benchmark case of collaborative cooperation in China's hydrogen energy commercial vehicle industry. According to the cooperation plan, the first batch of 200 units of 49 mt hydrogen energy heavy-duty trucks will be primarily deployed on core logistics trunk routes in the Yangtze River Delta, Inner Mongolia, and other regions, targeting the high energy consumption and high emission issues in heavy-load logistics and facilitating the low-carbon upgrading of regional logistics systems. The implementation of this strategic cooperation marks a critical breakthrough for Gongqing New Energy in the large-scale operation of hydrogen energy heavy-duty trucks. The deployment plan of over 1,000 units will further consolidate the enterprise's core competitiveness in the green transportation capacity market and improve the nationwide hydrogen energy transportation capacity network layout. In the next step, Gongqing (Shanghai) New Energy will take this signing cooperation as an opportunity, upholding the cooperation philosophy of complementary advantages, mutual benefit, and collaborative innovation, to continuously deepen upstream and downstream linkages across the hydrogen energy industry chain, accelerate the commercialization and large-scale popularization of hydrogen fuel cell heavy-duty trucks, and promote the high-quality development of the hydrogen energy logistics industry through large-scale, routine hydrogen-powered transportation capacity operations, continuously injecting green hydrogen energy momentum into the implementation of the national "dual carbon" strategy.

Recently, the full series of AEM hydrogen production products under Hydrogen-Powered Energy has entered a new phase of large-scale deployment and delivery, with six benchmark projects being advanced simultaneously. The business scenarios comprehensively cover core fields including scientific research and innovation, hydrogen production under special operating conditions, energy storage-electrolysis coupling, and industrial distributed hydrogen production. The product power spectrum is complete, extending from low-power scientific research equipment to 250kW large-scale industrial-grade equipment, comprehensively verifying the enterprise's outstanding capabilities in universal adaptability, technological innovation, scenario implementation, and personalized customization services for AEM hydrogen production products. Targeting the hydrogen energy research needs of universities and scientific research institutions, the enterprise has developed dedicated equipment for the 2.5kW AEM Electrolysis Hydrogen Production Scientific Research Platform . This standardized hydrogen production equipment is tailor-made for laboratory scenarios and can fully satisfy various scientific research experimental needs such as fundamental hydrogen energy theoretical research, core material performance testing, and electrolysis reaction mechanism exploration. The equipment adopts a lightweight integrated architecture, with a compact overall size and flexible installation and deployment. It supports dynamic power regulation across a wide range, precisely aligning with the refined and diversified operating condition standards of scientific research experiments. Meanwhile, it is equipped with a full-dimensional real-time data acquisition system, enabling traceable operating conditions and customizable experimental parameters, providing highly reliable and adaptive hardware support for industry-academia-research innovation in the hydrogen energy field. In the innovative field of energy coupling and co-production, the enterprise has implemented the 2.5kW AEM Hydrogen Production Coupled with Organic Liquid Electrolysis Project , breaking through the limitations of single functionality in traditional hydrogen production models. This project serves as a supporting facility for China Southern Power Grid's research on key technologies for organic liquid electrochemical hydrogen storage. It innovatively adopts an integrated linkage technology of AEM water electrolysis for hydrogen production and organic liquid electrolysis for hydrogen storage. While completing electrolytic hydrogen production, it achieves organic liquid electrochemical hydrogenation and dehydrogenation linkage operations through the cathode and anode reactions, constructing a new integrated hydrogen production and storage system. This technology can effectively adapt to scenarios such as power grid energy storage peak shaving and new energy consumption, solving the industry challenges of single profit models and low comprehensive returns of traditional hydrogen production projects, and providing a brand-new technical implementation path for the efficient utilization of comprehensive grid energy and the coupled co-production of hydrogen energy and chemical industries. Targeting special operating scenarios such as marine and specialized water environments, Hydrogen-Powered Energy has successfully delivered the 5kW AEM Direct Seawater Electrolysis Hydrogen Production Testing Platform , supporting a scientific research project at a national key laboratory. This equipment can achieve direct electrolysis of seawater for hydrogen production without complex pretreatment processes. Its rated hydrogen production capacity reaches 1Nm³/h, with a unit hydrogen production energy consumption as low as 4.3kwh/Nm³. The system features excellent chlorine corrosion resistance and can adapt to complex seawater conditions. The successful delivery of this equipment marks a critical breakthrough by the enterprise in the core technology of direct seawater electrolysis for hydrogen production. It can provide mature and feasible technical solutions for special scenarios such as resource recovery hydrogen production from industrial wastewater, supporting energy supply for offshore new energy, and island off-grid independent hydrogen production, demonstrating extremely high technological innovation value and scenario application scarcity. Focusing on the construction of new-type power systems and the demands for new energy consumption, the enterprise has launched the 25kW AEM Small-Scale Hydrogen Energy Storage System , primarily targeting distributed energy storage supporting applications. This system is custom-developed for distributed grid energy storage and wind power, PV and NEV sectors consumption scenarios. It possesses second-level rapid power response capabilities, can adapt to wide-range power fluctuations, and precisely matches the intermittent and fluctuating power generation characteristics of PV and wind power. The equipment adopts a highly integrated modular design, with simple operation and maintenance and strong scenario adaptability. It can quickly accomplish the efficient conversion and storage of green electricity into hydrogen energy, building a small-scale closed-loop hydrogen energy storage system. This effectively assists the grid in peak shaving and valley filling, promotes local and nearby consumption of new energy, and represents premium implementation equipment for distributed hydrogen energy storage in current new-type power systems.

Record industrial demand, supply deficits, and new U.S. policy changes now place silver at the center of modern manufacturing.

Platinum prices edged down today. On the macro front, rising expectations for US-Iran peace talks combined with heightened expectations for US Fed interest rate hikes driven by the Fed's hawkish stance continued to guide precious metals into volatile trading. In the morning session, GFEX PT2606 closed at 484.4 yuan/gram, down 0.66%, and the most-traded contract PT2608 closed at 489.1 yuan/gram, down 0.44%. The SGE Pt9995 best offer price remained in persistent inversion against GFEX PT2606, with the price spread staying around 5 yuan/gram. Spot side, mainstream quotations for spot platinum premiums were basically flat compared to the previous trading day. In the morning session, mainstream quotations from traders for non-delivery brand platinum were at parity to a discount of 2 yuan/gram against GFEX PT2606. Transaction side, according to SMM, some downstream buyers made rigid-demand bargain purchases in the morning session. Some suppliers reported small volumes of spot cargo transacted at a discount of 2 yuan/gram. Registered warrant shipment prices were generally higher. Trading firms engaging in both spot and futures market actively inquired about platinum and palladium warrants due to current price spread between futures contracts opportunities. The price difference between non-delivery spot platinum and registrable warrant spot cargo in the spot market gradually widened. Overall, consumption in the spot platinum market was normal today.

Affected by copper prices fluctuations, the operating rate of China's copper cathode rod industry pulled back slightly in recent weeks, though overall performance was better than earlier expectations. Meanwhile, social inventory and enterprise finished product inventories showed diverging trends. I. Operating Rate Pulled Back WoW, Actual Performance Better Than Expected Last week (May 15–May 21), the operating rate of major copper cathode rod enterprises in China came in at 61.97%, down 1.54 percentage points WoW, but 1.12 percentage points above prior expectations, and down 8.67 percentage points YoY. Copper prices rose first and then fell this week. The price rise phase notably suppressed downstream purchasing sentiment, with enterprises receiving fewer new orders and a slowdown in the cargo pick-up pace, leading to continuous accumulation of finished product inventories. Some enterprises proactively cut production to ease inventory pressure. As copper prices gradually pulled back, downstream enterprises began to progressively place orders and pick up goods, accelerating the pace of order delivery, which provided some support to operating rates and resulted in actual operating performance exceeding earlier enterprise expectations. II. Divergence in Inventory Trends: Social Inventory Continued to Build Up While Enterprise Finished Product Inventory Shifted from Buildup to Slight Destocking (i) Social Inventory Continued to Build Up but Remained at a Medium-to-Low Level Overall From the perspective of social inventory, according to SMM weekly data on copper rod social inventory, for the week of May 22, 2026, China's total copper rod social inventory stood at 17,100 mt, having built up for two consecutive weeks. This represented a rebound from the mid-April low of 13,400 mt, but remained at a medium-to-low level overall. Inventory pressure was relatively high at the beginning of the year, with social inventory reaching as high as 38,000 mt at the end of January. In March, copper prices pulled back significantly, driving downstream demand release and a rapid decline in inventory to 14,000 mt. The overall destocking trend was notable in Q1. Entering Q2, copper prices gradually stabilized, market demand operated steadily, and inventory fluctuations narrowed accordingly. (2) Enterprise raw material inventory fluctuations were limited, and finished product inventories saw destocking this week Enterprise inventory side, copper cathode rod enterprises continued the purchasing as needed model for raw material procurement, flexibly adjusting according to production pace. Overall raw material inventory fluctuations were relatively small, pulling back slightly WoW. More notably, on the finished product inventories side, downstream demand recovered after copper prices pulled back, and pickup volume increased. Meanwhile, enterprises proactively cut production and prioritized digesting finished products. Last week, finished product inventories declined 3.16% WoW, and the results of production cuts and destocking became evident. III. Monthly Days of Finished Product Inventories Continued to Rise From a longer time horizon, SMM copper cathode rod monthly days of finished product inventories hit a cyclical peak in February. In March, copper prices pulled back sharply, new orders surged in the market, downstream cargo pick-up enthusiasm improved, and warehouse withdrawals consistently exceeded warehouse inflows, causing finished product inventories to quickly pull back to low levels. In April, copper prices fluctuated upward, downstream procurement sentiment turned cautious, the pace of cargo pick-up slowed down, and inventory buildup occurred again. Entering May, overall industry operating rates remained weak, downstream buyers only made just-in-time procurement, and cargo pick-up intensity continued to weaken. Days of finished product inventories are expected to continue rising this month. IV. Market Outlook: Operating Rates in the Doldrums, Expected to Gradually Stabilize in the Short Term SMM expects that the overall operating rates of copper cathode rod enterprises will maintain a fluctuating and weak trend going forward. Currently, enterprises have insufficient orders on hand, and the progress of finished product destocking has fallen short of expectations, with operating rates clearly under pressure. However, new orders have gradually materialized during the copper price pullback phase, alleviating enterprises' willingness to cut production to some extent. Meanwhile, capacity previously under maintenance has successively resumed production, also providing support for industry operating rates. Overall, copper cathode rod operating rates are expected to gradually stabilize. However, continued attention should be paid to the direction of copper prices. If copper prices continue to fluctuate at highs and suppress downstream purchasing demand, there remains a risk that operating rates may fall short of expectations.

[SMM Daily Review: Silver Stabilized with Narrowing Spot Discounts, Consumer Support Remained Weak] SMM reported on May 26 that after the decline in silver prices stabilized, spot discounts narrowed, but the consumer market lacked sufficient support, and transactions remained dominated by low volumes.

European stainless flat prices are continuing to rise even though end-user demand remains broadly unchanged. Latest market indications show that European mills have lifted July-delivery cold rolled coil offers to €2,700-2,740/t delivered, while June-delivery CRC is currently averaging around €2,680/t delivered across Europe. The latest price gains are still being driven mainly by higher costs, especially those linked to the Middle East conflict.

Platinum prices were in the doldrums today. Precious metals futures fluctuated around expectations of Voss's inauguration and a US-Iran ceasefire. In the morning session, GFEX PT2606 closed at 485.65 yuan/gram, down slightly by 0.20%, and the most-traded PT2608 contract closed at 489.5 yuan/gram, down 0.10%. The SGE Pt9995 best offer price remained persistently inverted against GFEX PT2606, with the price spread maintained at around 5-10 yuan/gram. Spot side, mainstream quotations for spot platinum premiums were basically flat compared to the previous trading day. In the morning session, traders' mainstream quotations were at parity to a discount of 2 yuan/gram against GFEX PT2606. Transaction side, according to SMM, in the morning session suppliers found it difficult to transact at parity to a discount of 1 yuan/gram against the most-traded GFEX platinum contract. Downstream buyers purchased on rigid demand with price negotiations, and some suppliers reported small volumes transacted at a discount of 2 yuan/gram for spot cargo. Most suppliers had limited room for negotiation due to the approaching delivery period, and registered warrants were generally offered at relatively high shipments prices. Overall, the spot platinum market saw subdued consumption today.

According to Zhuhai Science and Technology Industry Group, Zhuhai is accelerating the formation of a complete display industry chain covering chip manufacturing, packaging and testing, and end-use applications. In the Micro LED golden track, the HC SemiTek Micro LED high-end chip integration project with a total investment of 5 billion yuan has been established in Zhuhai. Among them, the world's first 6-inch Micro LED mass production line has achieved large-scale delivery, and the BOE Zhuhai Jingxin Mini LED production line continues to expand its capacity. After all projects reach full production, the estimated annual output value is expected to reach 5 billion yuan, with annual tax contributions of approximately 500 million yuan. Zhuhai Science and Technology Industry Group is the second largest shareholder of HC SemiTek, having strategically invested nearly 3.4 billion yuan in HC SemiTek in May 2021.