According to SMM, the composite operating rate of the enamelled wire industry was 77.76% in March, up 33.91 percentage points MoM and up 3.38 percentage points YoY.

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Rare Earth Prices Hold Up Well, and Market Inquiry Activity Increases] The Pr-Nd oxide market as a whole continued to hold up well. Under the impact of expectations of tighter supply and pronounced fluctuations in futures prices, upstream suppliers kept raising their offers, while low-priced cargoes tightened rapidly, pushing Pr-Nd oxide prices up to 722,000-728,000 yuan/mt.

[Hyundai Motor Steps Up Its EV Push in China Amid US Tariff Pressure] South Korea’s Hyundai Motor is intensifying its EV strategy in China, setting an aggressive target of selling more than 40,000 NEVs this year in a bid to reduce its reliance on the US market as US tariff pressure continues to mount. According to industry sources, Hyundai Motor plans to raise NEV production at its joint venture Beijing Hyundai to 41,500 units in 2026, up more than 33-fold YoY; by then, the share of new energy car models in total production will surge from just 0.6% last year to about 20%. Hyundai Motor has also set its total sales target in China for this year, including exports, at 218,000 units, up 10.8% from 2025.

[Toyota Motor’s Global Sales Fell 2.3% in February] Toyota Motor announced on March 30 that its global sales in February (including the Lexus brand and subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors) fell 2.3% YoY to 806,905 units. Among them, February sales of the Toyota and Lexus brands declined 3.3% to 737,134 units; domestic sales in Japan fell 8.3% to 122,264 units, while sales outside China declined 2.2% to 614,870 units.

[SMM Tin Morning Brief: The Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Surged Sharply Late in the Night Session and Closed at a High, While Downstream Enterprises Showed Weak Purchase Willingness]

Recently, Hyundai Motor Group signed a cooperation agreement with Zhejiang Huayou Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. to jointly build an EV power battery recycling system in Indonesia. The cooperation covers the recycling and reuse of battery production scrap and end-of-life batteries, aiming to achieve a closed-loop resource system across the entire battery life cycle. Background of the Cooperation As the world’s largest nickel producer, Indonesia is pushing with unprecedented determination to transform itself from a raw material exporter into a global EV battery manufacturing hub. According to the Indonesian government’s plan, by 2030 the country will achieve total EV battery capacity of 100 GWh and plan to produce about 600,000 pure EVs annually. The HLI Green Power battery plant, jointly established in Indonesia by Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution, is a key part of this strategy. Located in Karawang, West Java, the plant has a total investment of $1.1 billion and began operations in 2024. It has annual capacity of 10 GWh and can supply battery cells for more than 150,000 EVs. The plant mainly supports EV models of Hyundai Motor Group in Southeast Asia, India, and other markets. However, with the rapid expansion of battery capacity, the disposal of end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap has become an increasingly prominent issue. The Indonesia Battery Association forecasts that by 2030 the country’s end-of-life power batteries will reach 120,000 mt. But the existing recycling system has clear shortcomings: insufficient processing capacity, lack of technical standards, and more than 70% of processing handled through informal recycling channels. In the suburbs of Jakarta, multiple open-air acid-leaching lithium workshops have even emerged, causing soil heavy metal levels to exceed EU limits by 50 times. This cooperation carries multiple implications for the development of Indonesia’s battery industry and even that of Southeast Asia as a whole: Improving the Local Industry Chain: Through the New Energy Law, the Indonesian government has designated EVs as a national strategic industry and requires foreign automakers to commit to building battery plants in Indonesia, with 40% local sourcing of parts to be achieved by 2027. The cooperation between Hyundai Motor and Huayou Recycling helps Indonesia build a complete industry chain spanning mineral extraction, battery manufacturing, and recycling. Addressing Resource Challenges: Although Indonesia is rich in nickel resources, it produces almost no cobalt, and its lithium resources depend on imports from Australia. Through battery recycling, it can partially reduce its import dependence on critical minerals and improve resource security. Attracting More Investment: The Indonesian government has introduced fiscal incentives such as zero import tariffs, exemption from luxury sales tax, and a reduction in VAT from 11% to 1%, to attract foreign investment into the battery industry. The battery recycling cooperation in Indonesia between Hyundai Motor Group and Huayou Recycling is not only a commercial move by the two enterprises, but also a reflection of the global battery industry's transition toward a circular economy. With the rapid expansion of the EV market, battery recycling has shifted from an environmental protection issue to a matter of resource strategy and economics.

Real GDP rose 0.1% in January, with an advance estimate of 0.2% in February, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. Growth was driven by the goods-producing sector, which expanded 0.2% for a second straight month, as gains in mining and oil and gas extraction offset a decline in manufacturing. Motor vehicle and parts manufacturing fell 10.8%—the largest drop since September 2021—as winter plant shutdowns extended into January, dragging auto output down 23.5% and wholesale trade down 1.2%. If March growth is flat, the economy is on track to expand at an annualized rate of 1.5% in the first quarter, slightly above market expectations of 1.4%.

►New Advances in Magnesium Materials and Processes ►Development and Application of New-Type Low-Cost, High-Strength, Corrosion-Resistant Magnesium Alloys ►Stainless Magnesium Technology: R&D Progress from Alloy Materials to Semi-Solid Processes, R&D and Application of Stainless Magnesium Alloys ►Hefei • Great “Magnesium” Chaohu — Building a First-Class Magnesium Industry Ecosystem in China ►R&D Progress and Current Industrialisation Status of Magnesium-Based Materials and Products at Baowu Magnesium ►Haitian Magnesium Alloy Injection Molding Technology and Market Outlook ►Magnesium from an International Perspective: The Transformation from a Cost-Driven Bulk Commodity to a Strategic Engineering Material ►: Focusing on the New Cycle of Supply and Demand for Magnesium Metal and Downstream Applications — Outlook for the Magnesium Market in 2026

Concluding our series, we shift focus to 2026's emerging NdFeB growth drivers: robotics, low-altitude economy, and electric two-wheelers. While viewed as the "second growth curve," we analyze their actual demand support amidst current macro and industry cycles to determine if they can offset traditional sector slowdowns.

The North American battery joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and SK On has been officially named HSBMA (Hyundai SK Battery Manufacturing America). Since announcing the joint venture in April 2023, the project has reached over 90% completion and is scheduled to begin commercial operations this year. The plant, located in Bartow County, Georgia, will have an annual production capacity of 35GWh, equivalent to batteries for approximately 300,000 electric vehicles. The two companies have jointly invested a total of $5 billion, each holding a 50% stake in the venture.