Among them, the Gulf region was an important consumer market for China in the Middle East: China’s exports of aluminum plate/sheet and strip to Saudi Arabia reached 42,500 mt, and aluminum foil 58,000 mt; exports of aluminum plate/sheet and strip to the UAE reached 103,500 mt, and aluminum foil 93,800 mt; the other four countries (Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman) accounted for combined exports of about 22,000 mt of aluminum plate/sheet and strip and about 11,000 mt of aluminum foil.

[SMM Tin Morning Briefing: The Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Opened Slightly Higher in the Night Session and Hovered at Highs, While Downstream Enterprises Showed Relatively Strong Purchase Willingness]

At the start of the year, there was plenty of excitement around silver. The precious metal was soaring and reaching record highs along the way. However, it has declined from the highs it reached in January.

After a strong start, the price of gold slipped twice to around $5,060 during this trading week. Now, it appears that gold prices might manage to stay just above $5,100 heading into the weekend, continuing the persistent sideways movement of the past five weeks.

[SMM Flash News] Aluminum Fundamentals This Week SMM, March 12: Fundamentals: Downstream producers gradually resumed operations after the holiday, and demand for liquid aluminum continued to recover. As of this Thursday, the weekly proportion of liquid aluminum rebounded by about 1.2 percentage points WoW, end-use demand steadily repaired, and downstream operating rates increased further. Driven by the PV installation rush, operating performance remained strong; construction recovered slowly after the holiday, and extrusion operating rates rose WoW; boosted by auto and packaging orders, aluminum plate/sheet, strip and foil operating rates also rebounded this week.

[SMM Weekly Survey of the Aluminum Downstream Sector: Downstream Aluminum Operating Rate Continued to Rebound to 61.9%, with High Prices Suppressing the Peak "Golden March" Season] This week, the weekly operating rate of leading downstream aluminum processing enterprises in China rose 2.4 percentage points MoM to 61.9%, overall extending the post-holiday recovery trend, with all segments rebounding MoM, and the industry as a whole entering a normal production pace.

SMM Analysis: According to SMM, the operating rate of China's copper foil enterprises was 84.26% in February 2026, down 4.3 percentage points MoM and up 16.61 percentage points YoY...

Recently, Chalco Aluminum Foil (Yunnan) Co., Ltd. underwent an industrial and commercial registration change, with its registered capital increasing from 800 million yuan to approximately 1.15 billion yuan, an increase of about 44%. The company was established in March 1996. Its legal representative is Xu Tao, and its business scope includes the production and sales of aluminum cast-rolled coil, aluminum plate/sheet and strip, aluminum foil products, and packaging for food and pharmaceuticals, as well as aluminum foil for electronics and power applications, foreign trade, and more. Shareholder information shows that the company is jointly held by Aluminum Corporation of China Group High-end Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Northwest Aluminum Co., Ltd., and others.

Xinglv’s 100,000 mt Aluminum-Based New Materials Project Commences Operations Recently, the Nanning Industrial Investment Aluminum-Based New Materials Group’s Xinglv company, located in the Kunlun Industrial Park, Xingning District, Nanning, successfully commenced operations for its project with an annual capacity of 100,000 mt of high-precision battery aluminum foil and 70,000 mt of can-end tab stock. As a core project of the aluminum-based new materials industrial park being developed as a key initiative in Xingning District, the project—featuring an annual capacity of 100,000 mt of high-precision battery aluminum foil and 70,000 mt of can-end tab stock—has a total investment of approximately 1.62 billion yuan.

[SMM Aluminum Price Weekly Review: Geopolitical Disruptions Dominate, Aluminum Prices Remain Elevated]