SMM News, March 31 According to SMM data, the average tax-inclusive full cost of domestic aluminum industry in March 2026 rose 0.5% MoM and fell 5.7% YoY, mainly due to a slight rebound in alumina raw material costs during the period. In March, Middle East production cuts pushed up aluminum prices in and outside China. The SMM A00 monthly average spot price (February 26-March 25) rose 2.9% MoM, and aluminum profit margins expanded to 8,316 yuan/mt. Based on monthly average price calculations, 100% of China’s operating aluminum capacity was profitable in March. From the cost breakdown side: Alumina raw materials : According to SMM data, the monthly average of the SMM alumina index in March was 2,685 yuan/mt (January 26-February 25), up 2.4% MoM. During the month, total operating alumina capacity was basically stable, but the Middle East geopolitical conflict raised ocean freight rates for alumina and bauxite, and domestic alumina costs are expected to move higher. Futures prices drove spot prices higher, lifting the monthly average alumina price. Entering April, the upward momentum in spot alumina prices at month-end March appeared slightly insufficient. Some new projects are expected to come online in April or ramp up operating capacity, but as the base price at the beginning of the month was already at a high level, alumina raw material costs in April are expected to post a slight increase. Auxiliary materials market : In March, both prebaked anode and fluoride salt prices pulled back, lowering aluminum auxiliary material costs. Entering April, the Middle East geopolitical conflict raised international oil prices, and higher costs continued to push up petroleum coke prices, which in turn supported higher prebaked anode prices. The April prebaked anode tender price at a large aluminum plant in Shandong rose 300 yuan/mt MoM; for aluminum fluoride, prices are also expected to rise significantly in April due to higher raw material costs. Overall, auxiliary material costs are expected to increase significantly in April. Electricity prices : Electricity prices were generally stable in March. Entering April, power prices are expected to remain broadly stable, and aluminum power costs are expected to hold steady. Overall, in March 2026, SMM expected the weighted average tax-inclusive full cost of dometstic aluminum industry to rise slightly; in April, it was expected to increase significantly MoM, with the average at around 16,150-16,550 yuan/mt.

[Weak Market Sentiment Weighed on Both Spot Silicon Metal and Polysilicon Prices]: This week, the silicon metal market moved lower after a stalemate, with weak market sentiment, some downstream procurement demand released, and cautious trading sentiment. SMM east China oxygen-blown #553 silicon stood at 9,000-9,200 yuan/mt, down 100 yuan/mt WoW. At the beginning of the week, silicon metal market prices remained in a stalemate, while the most-traded contract fluctuated around 8,550-8,750 yuan/mt, with downstream procurement mainly focused on factory cargoes. Later, affected by macro factors and capital sentiment, futures prices declined continuously and closed at 8,285 yuan/mt on Thursday. As spot-futures traders' price advantages became apparent, shipments increased, downstream procurement sentiment diverged, and the market saw transactions based on immediate needs.

Overall, supply in China’s petroleum coke market continued to tighten, while downstream demand remained generally stable with support, and supply and demand fundamentals provided two-way support to the market. Coupled with recent fluctuations in crude oil prices and intensified cost-side bargaining, SMM expected that in the short term, the petroleum coke market would mainly remain in consolidation, with prices of different categories continuing to diverge.

[Spot Silicon Metal Prices Probe Higher as Market Transactions Remain Stagnant; Polysilicon Price Trend Declines]: On the supply side, production release from silicon metal capacity that resumed production in early March increased total silicon metal supply compared with early March. Recently, there have been scattered production resumptions in Southwest China, but these have not yet become widespread, so their impact on supply growth has been very limited. On the cost side, spot prices of silicon coal and electrodes have remained temporarily stable recently, while petroleum coke prices rose slightly. Coupled with higher gasoline prices, road transport freight rates were raised slightly, providing relatively strong cost support for silicon metal. On the demand side, performance has mainly remained stable recently. During the week, spot silicon metal transactions were stagnant, inventory in the intermediate segment stayed at a high level, and downstream demand was weak, so silicon metal prices had limited room to rise or fall and were mainly range-bound in consolidation.

1. Tender Conditions The tender project March Titanium Metal Petroleum Coke No. 2 Public Tender (PGWZMYHGZHD260310272703) had the Bid Inviter as the Materials Division of Pangang Group Material Trading Co., Ltd. The funds for the tender project came from self-raised sources. The project had met the tender conditions, and a public tender was now being conducted. 2. Project Overview and Tender Scope 2.1 Project Name: March Titanium Metal Petroleum Coke No. 2 Public Tender 2.2 Alternative Procurement Method Upon Tender Failure: Negotiated procurement 2.3 For the tender content, scope, and scale of this project, please refer to the attachment "Material List Attachment.pdf" for details. 3. Bidder Qualification Requirements 3.1 Consortium bidding was not permitted for this tender. 3.2 This tender required bidders to meet the following qualification requirements: See the attachment for details (if necessary). 3.3 This tender required bidders to meet the following registered capital requirement: Manufacturer registered capital: 6 million yuan or above 3.4 This tender required bidders to meet the following performance requirements: When submitting bids, bidders were required to provide proof of performance for petroleum coke products from 2022.1.1 to the bid submission deadline (scanned copies of invoices; if no Pangang supply performance was uploaded, the bidder would be deemed a new supplier). 3.5 This tender required bidders to meet the following capability requirements, financial requirements, and other requirements: Financial requirement: registered capital ≥ 6 million yuan Capability requirement: provide valid enterprise qualification certificates, namely scanned copies of the original or duplicate business license; Other requirements: see the attachment for details (if necessary). 3.6 For projects that must be tendered in accordance with the law, bids submitted by dishonest persons subject to enforcement were invalid. 4. Acquisition of Tender Documents 4.1 Any interested bidder shall, from 08:45 on March 12, 2026 to 08:45 on April 1, 2026 (Beijing time, the same hereinafter), log in to the Angang Smart Tendering and Bidding Platform at http://bid.ansteel.cn to download the electronic tender documents. Click to View Tender Details:

SMM March 2nd Report: On February 28, 2026, the US and Israel launched a large-scale military strike on Iran, which promptly announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The geopolitical situation in the Middle East escalated sharply and fell into sustained turmoil. As a critical "chokepoint" for global energy transportation, the Strait of Hormuz handles about 30% of global seaborne oil trade. Its blockade directly led to a severe physical disruption in the global energy supply chain, causing international oil prices to surge dramatically, with shipping costs and insurance fees skyrocketing, significantly increasing uncertainty in the energy market. As a key raw material for prebaked anodes used in aluminum production, petcoke is expected to enter a state of supply tightens, cost surges, and quality disturbances under the influence of the geopolitical situation. This change will directly impact the stability of China's petcoke import system, while also substantially raising domestic prebaked anode production costs, creating a chain reaction in the downstream aluminum industry. In terms of the overall distribution of import sources, in 2025, regions and countries with high petcoke import dependency in China showed a tiered characteristic. The first tier, centered around the US and Russia, saw the US accounting for 31%, making it the largest source of petcoke imports for China; Russia followed closely with 17%, together contributing nearly half of the total imports. The second tier was the Middle East, collectively accounting for 15%, serving as an important supplementary segment for China's petcoke imports. Other import sources were more dispersed, with Canada and Brazil each at 5%, and Argentina, Colombia, and Taiwan, China, each at 4%. This diversification of smaller sources enriched China's petcoke import supply system, but the influence of individual entities remained relatively limited. Notably, as a key supplementary sector for China's petcoke imports, the highly concentrated internal supply structure of the Middle East became the core reason for the impact of the deteriorating geopolitical situation on China's import market. In detail, the supply landscape of the Middle East exhibited a "dominance by one, supplemented by a few" feature: Saudi Arabia, with a 64% share, held an absolute dominant position, being the core exporter of petcoke from the Middle East to China; Oman ranked second with 22%; Kuwait accounted for 12%, with other regions providing only minor supplements. In terms of imported product specifications, petcoke from the Middle East mainly consisted of medium- to high-sulfur varieties, with different source countries focusing on specific types: petcoke from Saudi Arabia primarily included high-sulfur sponge coke and high-sulfur shot coke, from Oman mainly shot coke, and from Kuwait mainly medium-sulfur sponge coke. These types of petcoke are primarily used for blending in the production of prebaked anodes, serving as a crucial raw material supplement for the domestic prebaked anode industry. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has a multi-dimensional impact on the petroleum coke market: On one hand, the blockade leads to a complete halt in the export of Middle Eastern petroleum coke, significantly reducing the international circulation of petroleum coke. The arrival cycle for petroleum coke imported by China from the Middle East is notably extended, directly exacerbating the tightness of domestic import supply. On the other hand, some refineries in the region are affected by military conflicts, limiting their production activities and further contracting the overall supply of petroleum coke, creating a dual squeeze on the supply side. Meanwhile, the surge in international oil prices drives up the production costs of petroleum coke from refinery delayed coking units, providing a solid bottom support for petroleum coke prices. Coupled with the sharp rise in international shipping freight and war risk insurance premiums, these factors collectively push petroleum coke prices into a more likely to rise than fall trajectory. In summary, this geopolitical conflict in the Middle East is a significant external shock to the 2026 petroleum coke-prebaked anode-aluminum industry chain. The triple pressures of supply tightening, cost surges, and quality disruptions will continue to be passed down: Petroleum coke prices will keep rising, pushing up the production costs of prebaked anodes, which in turn will elevate the production costs of aluminum. If the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz persists, the entire industry chain will gradually enter a phase characterized by high costs, low inventory, and strong fluctuations. Ensuring supply chain security and controlling enterprise costs will become the core challenges facing the industry.

[SMM Aluminum Express] As a key investment promotion project in Zhijiang City, the Hubei Sunstone annual 1 million mt new-type carbon materials project is jointly invested by Sunstone Development and Zhouzheng Industrial & Trading Co., Ltd., with construction commencing in February 2023. "Calcined petroleum coke can be used to manufacture prebaked anodes required for aluminum production and is also widely used in the production of lithium battery anode materials and key auxiliary materials," said Zhu Taoyuan, Deputy General Manager of the company. Since the production start in September 2024, all eight pot calciners have been put into operation, and the four calcined petroleum coke production lines are running at full capacity.

[SMM Aluminum Express] On January 25, the cargo ship "ZHONG CHANG 508," loaded with 50,000 mt of high-quality petroleum coke produced by Oman Oil Company's Duqm plant, departed from Duqm Port in Oman. It traversed the Indian Ocean and crossed the South China Sea, arriving successfully at Rizhao Port in Shandong on February 21 after nearly a month-long voyage. This shipment of petroleum coke represents the materialization of the company's earlier field trips to the Middle East market and precise alignment with overseas resources. Unlike previous operations, this business marked the first time the company independently managed the entire import process, enhancing resource acquisition efficiency and supply chain stability.

SMM February 6: Prebaked Anode Market: Domestic and Export Prices Fall Together, Weak Cost Side Drags Down Future Market In February 2026, prebaked anode prices mainly declined. In the domestic market, a Shandong aluminum enterprise set its February 2026 procurement benchmark price at 5,229 yuan/mt, down 2% MoM. In the export market, according to SMM surveys, prebaked anode export order prices in February mainly fell, with declines concentrated in the range of $10-20/mt. Raw material side, since February, due to downstream aluminum carbon and anode material enterprises mainly restocking based on rigid demand, purchasing enthusiasm has been relatively moderate. Petroleum coke prices were generally stable with slight fall. Although post-holiday restocking provided some support, affected by supply-demand and cost factors, petroleum coke prices in February are expected to continue structural differentiation and an overall trend in the doldrums. In the coal tar pitch market, support from the cost side high-temperature coal tar loosened, and coal tar pitch prices mainly operated in the doldrums. Overall, the prebaked anode cost side was in the doldrums, and prebaked anode prices next month are expected to be slightly under pressure. Aluminum Fluoride Market: Tender Pricing Decline Drives Prices Down, Weak Supply-Demand Constrains Future Recovery The downstream aluminum benchmark enterprise's February 2026 tender pricing saw a decline, finally settling in the range of 10,480-10,550 yuan/mt, driving aluminum fluoride prices to generally follow with declines of 200-380 yuan/mt. Overall, the aluminum fluoride fundamentals failed to provide effective support for prices. Loosening costs combined with a weak supply-demand situation caused prices in February to fall under pressure. The supporting effect from the raw material side significantly weakened, further constraining market trends. The support from raw materials such as fluorite and sulphuric acid was limited. The core intermediate hydrofluoric acid market experienced weak supply-demand around the Chinese New Year, with an unclear pace for post-holiday operating rate and demand recovery, greatly weakening the cost transmission effect. On the supply side, although the current industry operating rate has declined somewhat, spot inventory remains sufficient. Post-holiday production resumptions by enterprises will further release capacity, increasing supply pressure. On the demand side, only slight recovery was achieved relying on rigid demand restocking by aluminum enterprises, lacking substantial incremental support. Under multiple constraints, aluminum fluoride prices next month are highly likely to continue their weak trend.

[SMM Aluminum Express News] China's Shandong Nanshan Group plans a 100,000 bpd crude oil refinery in Indonesia's Galang Batang SEZ on Bintan Island, primarily to produce petroleum coke (petcoke) as feedstock for its planned aluminum smelter expansion. However limited information on the capacity of the petroleum coke as it is still currently on planning stage.