On March 20, the Information Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Government held a press conference in the series “Implementing the ‘1571’ Work Deployment and Promoting High-Quality Development in Inner Mongolia,” providing a special briefing on the region’s achievements in green hydrogen industry development, key tasks for 2026, and the 15th Five-Year Plan. It made clear that, by leveraging its advantages in wind and solar power resources, Inner Mongolia will advance the full-chain layout of green hydrogen and continue to lead the nation’s green hydrogen industry. Key Focuses of the Hydrogen Energy Industry in 2026: Building a Pioneer Zone for Green Hydrogen Development In 2026, with the construction of a national pioneer zone for the green hydrogen industry as its core goal, Inner Mongolia will comprehensively advance the large-scale deployment of green hydrogen. It will launch pilot projects for large-scale off-grid hydrogen production, expand application scenarios such as blending green hydrogen into natural gas and coupling with the chemical and metallurgical industries, while simultaneously building green hydrogen industrial parks and broadening channels for the non-power use of green electricity. Within the year, construction will begin on three green hydrogen pipelines, including the Ulanqab–Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei route, to improve the transmission network. At the same time, the region will focus on breakthroughs in hydrogen energy technology, deepen collaboration among industry, academia, research, and application, and advance the implementation of demonstration projects for the first unit (set) of hydrogen energy equipment and collaborative innovation projects integrating wind and solar power, hydrogen, and energy storage, so as to consolidate the industry’s technological foundation. Green Hydrogen Industry Achievements Lead the Nation, with Advantages in Both Scale and Cost Becoming Prominent Inner Mongolia is richly endowed with wind and solar power resources, with technically developable wind and solar power resources exceeding 10 billion kW, accounting for one-quarter of the national total, laying a solid foundation for the green hydrogen industry. At present, multiple industry indicators ranked among the top nationwide. A total of 19 policies covering the entire industry chain of green hydrogen had been introduced; 7 projects were included in national demonstration programs; 8 projects were completed and put into operation, forming annual capacity of 80,000 mt. Green hydrogen production reached 12,694 mt in 2025, surging 3.6 times YoY; production in January and February 2026 was 2,653.6 mt, with production costs at 17-20 yuan/kg, only 60% of the national average. In addition, the country’s first provincial-level green hydrogen pipeline plan had been implemented, and the pipeline network featuring “one trunk line, two loops, and four outlets” was being accelerated. The hydrogen pipeline from Darhan Muminggan Banner to urban Baotou had already been completed, while green hydrogen applications now covered transportation, chemicals, power, and other fields, with the consumer market maturing rapidly. Precise Planning Under the 15th Five-Year Plan to Build a Strong Hydrogen Energy Industry Cluster During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, based on its existing foundation, Inner Mongolia will build a distinctive hydrogen energy industry cluster and focus on advancing four major tasks: scientifically formulate industry plans and reasonably lay out clusters by producing based on sales; tackle core technologies such as off-grid hydrogen production and flexible electrolyzers to raise the industry’s technological level; expand diversified application scenarios, improve business models, and open up the entire chain of production, storage, transportation, refueling, and utilization; accelerate the construction of green hydrogen pipelines within the region and across provinces, reduce transportation costs, comprehensively enhance the competitiveness of the green hydrogen industry, and support the industry in continuing to lead the nation.

[SMM Chrome Daily Review: Price Gains Slowed, and the Chrome Market Operated Steadily] March 23, 2026 News: Quotations for chrome ore and ferrochrome remained unchanged for the time being...

[SMM Silicon-Based PV Morning Meeting Summary: Polysilicon Prices Remained Slightly Weak, While Module Prices Were Overtly Stable but Softened in Practice] Over the weekend, N-type recharging polysilicon was quoted at 39.5-47.5 yuan/kg, the N-type polysilicon price index stood at 43.64 yuan/kg, and granular polysilicon was quoted at 40-43 yuan/kg. Polysilicon prices still appeared slightly weak over the weekend, with reports of some transactions concluded at low prices. Bearish sentiment among upstream and downstream enterprises persisted, and prices were expected to remain weak.

As supply and demand for construction steel were not fully matched across different markets, regional supply-demand mismatches created price differentiation, which in turn drove the cross-regional circulation of steel resources. When the regional price spread gradient was appropriate, regions with surplus construction steel capacity and production often shipped excess resources out, thereby rebalancing construction steel resources across regions.

[SMM Hydrogen Energy Flash] Recently, the Green Hydrogen Engineering Technology segment of Aerospace Engineering received a series of good news, successfully signing contracts for two major green hydrogen engineering projects. One is the water electrolysis hydrogen production project for the hydrogen refueling station of Zhongqing Energy Development (Shandong) Co., Ltd., and the other is the electrolytic hydrogen production unit project for the Inner Mongolia Baofeng green hydrogen-coupled coal-to-olefins project. Aerospace Engineering will provide a total of 16 sets of HTJSDJ-1000/1.6 alkaline electrolyzers for these two projects, as well as supporting post-processing systems, utility engineering equipment, and engineering design services. This signing marked Aerospace Engineering’s simultaneous breakthroughs in the two major fields of green transportation and green hydrogen chemical engineering.

[SMM Hydrogen Energy Express] On March 16, Zhongxin Nenghua conducted an inquiry-based procurement for the feasibility study of the Duolun Coal Chemical coal-based process biomass co-firing coupled with green electricity for green methanol production project, as well as technical consulting services for green methanol certification. The principal entity was Datang Inner Mongolia Duolun Coal Chemical Co., Ltd. It was understood that the Datang Duolun 150,000 kW wind and solar power hydrogen production integration demonstration project was China’s first medium-to-large-scale scientific and technological demonstration project for deep coupling of off-grid wind and solar power hydrogen production with coal chemical engineering. The project was invested in and constructed by Datang Duolun Ruiyuan New Energy Co., Ltd., with a total investment of approximately 1.3 billion yuan. Construction officially commenced in November 2023, construction officially commenced in November 2023, hydrogen was successfully produced on December 29, 2024, and the project was officially connected to the grid and put into operation on January 17, 2025.

On March 7, according to an announcement by Xingye Silver&Tin, Xiwuzhumuqin Banner Budun Yingen Mining Co., Ltd., a managed company of Inner Mongolia Xingye Silver&Tin Mining Co., Ltd., recently obtained the Reply on the Approval of the 2.97 million mt/year Underground Mining and Beneficiation Project for the Silver Mine in the Budunwula Mining Area of Budun Yingen Mining Co., Ltd., Xiwuzhumuqin Banner, Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia, issued by the Development and Reform Commission of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the Development and Reform Commission of Xilingol League. Budun Yingen Mining will implement an underground silver mining and beneficiation project in the mining area, with a construction scale of 2.97 million mt/year.

Fulin Precision has announced a major capital injection of 1.004 billion yuan into its project company, Inner Mongolia Fulin Era New Energy Material, to accelerate the development of its lithium iron phosphate (LFP) facilities in Ordos. The investment was led by the subsidiary Jiangxi Shenghua (779 million yuan), alongside Qianyuan Huizhi and Jiebao Investment. Consequently, Fulin Era's registered capital has surged from 1 million to over 1.005 billion yuan.

SMM, March 20: The SMM weekly operating rate of secondary lead across four provinces stood at 39.57% from March 13 to March 19, 2026, up 10.42 percentage points WoW. Production at enterprises in Anhui was relatively stable, while the resumption progress at other smelters was slow; raw material inventory among enterprises in Henan diverged, with mixed changes in operating rates; enterprises in Jiangsu, affected by losses, showed intentions to cut or suspend production; and a large secondary lead smelter in Inner Mongolia resumed production, driving a sharp increase in the operating rate this week. Next week, enterprises resuming production will continue to release capacity, and market attention should focus on whether loss-making enterprises will implement production suspensions in the secondary lead operating rate. 》Subscribe to View Historical SMM Metal Spot Prices

According to the latest release from the General Administration of Customs, SMM statistics showed that China’s SiMn exports were 2,539.52 mt in January 2026, down 50.55% MoM and down 31.84% YoY. China’s SiMn imports were 0 mt in January 2026, down 100% MoM and down 100% YoY. By import and export regional structure, SiMn exports were mainly destined for Indonesia.