Caremag SAS, a French Carester subsidiary, has obtained €216 million in funding to establish a large rare-earth recycling and refining plant in Lacq, southern France, slated to begin operations by late 2026. The facility will process 2,000 t of magnets and 5,000 t of mining concentrates each year, making it Europe’s first major rare-earth recycler and a key Western producer of purified heavy rare earths. The project is supported by €110 million from Japanese investors and €106 million from the French government and will provide essential materials for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and electronics.

Southern Battery JSC (PINACO) held its 2026 Employees’ Representative Conference on March 30 in Ho Chi Minh City, reporting strong business performance for 2025. Revenue reached VND 4,259 billion, up 11% year-on-year, while export revenue rose 25% to VND 1,012 billion. Battery output increased 14% to 2,382 thousand kWh, and pre-tax profit hit VND 150 billion. The company also maintained stable employment and continued expanding its market share and export footprint.

It is reported that in the first quarter of this year, the Southern Power Grid completed fixed asset investment of 38.45 billion yuan, an increase of 49.5% year on year. At the same time, in the first quarter of this year, the bidding and procurement scale of the Southern Power Grid was 78.4 billion yuan, an increase of 25% over the same period last year; The supply of project materials was 21.2 billion yuan, an increase of 43% over the same period last year; Payment of goods and materials should be made in full, and a total of 16.8 billion yuan has been paid for various types of goods and materials, an increase of 41% over the same period last year.

Ero Copper and Southern Copper have reported strong earnings growth, reinforcing investor confidence in copper producers amid ongoing market volatility.

In Q1 this year, China Southern Power Grid's west-to-east power transmission delivered a cumulative 41.5 billion kWh of electricity, 4.7 billion kWh above plan, up 13.3% YoY, setting a record high for the same period in history. Of this, non-fossil energy accounted for 81% of the electricity transmitted.

[How Should Zinc Consumption Be Viewed Against the Backdrop of Geopolitical Conflicts?] Q1 2026 had passed, and the overall recovery in post-holiday consumption was somewhat delayed. How would consumption perform going forward?

[SMM Daily Chrome Commentary: Weak Trading Sentiment, Market Remained Temporarily Stable] April 1, 2026: The ferrochrome and chrome ore markets saw limited fluctuations...

Metso has secured a contract with Southern Peru Copper Corporation to supply copper refining technology for the Tía María project in Peru. The facility will produce 120,000 tonnes of LME-grade copper cathodes annually, highlighting continued investment in refining capacity.

【SMM Steel】Southern Steel signed a heads of agreement to acquire Ann Joo Steel from Ann Joo Resources. The cash deal targets non-current assets valued at RM1.005bn. It includes Ann Joo Integrated Steel but excludes dormant property units. The acquisition aims to expand scale and improve efficiency via shared resources. Southern Steel seeks cost synergies by integrating similar upstream businesses. The deal requires shareholder approval.

According to Polaris Power Network, on March 27, China Southern Power Grid launched the first batch of tenders for information technology projects in 2026. A total of 5 lots and 24 packages were involved, including 15 system construction projects, 2 special research projects, 5 business support projects, and 2 equipment procurement projects.