India’s JSW Steel will invest 500 million USD to expand and modernize its US operations in Mingo Junction, Ohio, and Baytown, Texas. About 165 million USD will fund a vacuum tank degasser and advanced slab caster over three years, enabling JSW US to produce 12-inch slabs and reduce imports from Brazil and other countries. Baytown’s plate and pipe mill is also undergoing a 110 million USD upgrade, scheduled for October 2026.

[SEA] Southeast Asian slab trading stayed weak in June, with export prices moving lower. An Indonesian mill cut August-shipment HRC-grade slab offers to 495 USD/tonne FOB, down 15 USD/tonne w-o-w and 20 USD/tonne from early June, mainly due to poor sales. Vietnam slab offers stood near 510 USD/tonne FOB, but deals were limited. In SEA’s import market, Chinese slab was last traded at 510 USD/tonne CFR, while current tradable levels are no higher than 500 USD/tonne CFR.

As the global automotive industry accelerates its low-carbon and intelligent transformation, China’s automotive industry is shifting from scale advantages to dual leadership in technology and supply chains. In 2025, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China exceeded 50%, driving upgrades in automotive materials such as aluminum, steel, and magnesium, and triggering a surge in demand for lightweight new materials. Coupled with the implementation of the EU carbon tariff, low-carbon transformation across the industry chain has become urgent. At the outset of the 15th Five-Year Plan and amid the deepening “dual-carbon” phase, the industry urgently needs a professional platform to address material technology challenges. Against this backdrop, will be held September 10-11, 2026 in Shanghai . SMM together with the exclusive title sponsor for drinking water — Anhui Xiongchuang Aluminum Alloy New Material Co., Ltd. —sincerely invites industry peers to attend, helping drive the automotive supply chain toward deeper evolution in green, lightweight, intelligent, and global directions. Click to attend; we look forward to meeting you at the conference. Anhui Xiongchuang Aluminum Alloy New Material Co., Ltd. was established in October 2018 with registered capital of 100 million yuan. Located at No. 12 Yanghuai Road, Economic Development Zone, Suixi County, Huaibei City, Anhui province, it is a private new-type aluminum alloy materials enterprise integrating R&D, production, and sales. The company’s total land area is 63,603 m², equivalent to approximately 95.5 mu. The planned total building area is 32,000 m², with supporting utility and auxiliary works to be constructed. Total project investment is approximately 150 million yuan, including 95 million yuan in construction investment. The overall designed capacity is 150,000 mt per year. Its main products include high-quality cast aluminum alloy ingots of various grades, molten aluminum alloy, and secondary aluminum alloy rods, mainly used in sectors such as automotive and new energy . Key production equipment includes domestically advanced high-efficiency, energy-saving automatic melting furnaces, achieving high efficiency, energy savings, reduced dross generation, and improved molten aluminum purity. The production equipment, technical standards, and economic indicators have reached an advanced level among comparable production processes in China. The company is committed to R&D and manufacturing initiatives to substitute aluminum for steel and aluminum as an substitute for copper, promoting lightweighting of components for automobiles, rail transit, and aerospace, achieving energy conservation and emissions reduction, and protecting the Earth’s environment. For every 1 mt of secondary aluminum we recycle and reuse, we can reduce ore mining by 11 mt, cut carbon dioxide emissions by 0.8 mt, reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 0.6 mt, reduce solid scrap emissions by 20 mt, save 22 m³ of water, and save 14,000 kWh of electricity. Soaring ahead with innovation to break through! Xiongchuang Aluminum Alloy uses integrity to build its backbone and service to forge brilliance! In the future, we will fully leverage our industrial strengths, integrate resources from all sides, target market development trends, and create more value for our clients. Contact Information Mr. Liu 181 0561 3888 Mr. Yang 151 3040 8133 SMM Conference Contact Lv Junlei 176 1601 9596 lvjunlei@smm.cn

As of June 30, the most-traded SHFE zinc contract closed at 24,350 yuan/mt, down 615 yuan/mt for the month, a decline of 2.46%. June saw SHFE zinc retreat from highs, touching a high of 25,355 yuan/mt early in the month and a low of 23,720 yuan/mt at month-end, with the overall price center pulling back. Entering July, the ore tightness situation in China persists; how will zinc prices perform?

As of Thursday, June 25, social copper inventories in major regions of China increased by 11,700 mt WoW to 206,000 mt, while regional inventory trends diverged significantly. Copper price pullbacks have spurred a recovery in downstream purchasing demand, and coupled with ongoing adjustments in the market's supply-demand pattern, inventory performance varied across regions. By region, inventory trends in China's key copper consumption areas showed pronounced divergence. In Shanghai and Jiangsu, the two core markets, inventories pulled back in tandem, signaling a notable recovery in demand. Recently, domestic copper prices fell sharply, with lower prices effectively stimulating downstream enterprises' restocking willingness. In Shanghai, buoyed by favorable prices, downstream purchasing activity increased significantly, continuously drawing down spot inventories; meanwhile, combined with relatively low regional arrivals in the prior period, the market maintained a destocking pattern. Jiangsu's market situation was largely in line with Shanghai's—falling copper prices prompted end-users to concentrate on pricing and purchasing, with rigid-demand orders released intensively, effectively driving steady destocking of regional inventories and markedly improving spot market liquidity. In stark contrast to Shanghai and Jiangsu, inventories in Guangdong continued to climb, becoming the main drag on the national inventory increase. According to market analysis, as the year entered the mid-year phase, consumption by downstream copper semis enterprises in Guangdong gradually slowed, end-user order growth pulled back, and overall willingness to purchase remained weak. Meanwhile, domestic smelters accelerated their shipment pace, concentrating deliveries into Guangdong warehouses, driving a significant increase in regional arrivals. Under the dual impact of weakening downstream consumption and concentrated inflows of upstream supply, copper inventories in Guangdong continued to accumulate. Looking ahead, China's copper market will see structural adjustments on both supply and demand sides in the short term, with a destocking trend essentially in place. On the supply side, the domestic copper cathode market has recently seen somewhat looser supply, with port arrivals of imported cathode steadily rising. Meanwhile, domestic smelters have maintained steady production and shipment pace, with domestic supply arrivals continuing to increase, resulting in ample overall spot supply. The outlook for demand improvement is more definitive. After this round of sharp copper price declines, downstream enterprises' cost pressure has eased significantly. Coupled with previously accumulated orders on hand awaiting execution, market stockpiling sentiment continues to recover, and end-user restocking demand for rigid needs is set to be released intensively, continuously consuming spot cargo circulating in the market. Overall, the current domestic copper spot market is characterized by a favorable pattern of "ample supply and recovering demand," with downstream restocking momentum sufficient to offset pressure from short-term new supply. SMM expects that next week, national copper social inventories will shift to a destocking pace, and overall inventories are likely to pull back steadily. Going forward, the market should closely monitor the magnitude of copper price fluctuations, the sustainability of downstream purchasing intensity, and the pace of imported supply arrivals.

[SMM Analysis: Breaking the Hormuz Strait Curse for Sulphur Source Self-Rescue, Hubei Yihua Million-Ton Phosphogypsum-to-Sulphuric Acid Project Signed] On June 22, 2026, China Wuhuan, Tianjin Cement Institute, and Hubei Yihua signed a contract for a million-ton-level phosphogypsum-to-sulphuric acid project, which will process 1 million mt of phosphogypsum annually, produce 400,000 mt of sulphuric acid, and byproduct admixture material, using the third-generation green and low-carbon calcination technology.

SMM June 30: In early trading, the trading center of the SHFE aluminum 2606 contract was below the same period of the previous trading day. Affected by the decline in aluminum prices, some sellers held back from selling today, and overall selling sentiment weakened. Market buying sentiment was sluggish, and overall buying sentiment in the market declined today. Mainstream transactions were at parity to a premium of 10 yuan/mt against the SHFE aluminum July contract. Today, the shipment sentiment index in east China was 2.88, down 0.29 day-on-day; the purchase sentiment index was 2.76, down 0.10 day-on-day. The SHFE aluminum futures plummeted today, and the trading atmosphere in the central China market remained sluggish. Downstream processing enterprises showed a pronounced sentiment of rushing to buy amid continuous price rise and holding back amid price downturn, staying mainly on the sidelines. Moreover, as it was the last trading day of June, many processing plants focused on inventory checks and digesting inventories, resulting in low buying interest. With the absolute price having fallen too sharply, suppliers' willingness to sell also decreased. Ultimately, actual transactions in the central China market were at discounts of 20-40 yuan/mt against the SHFE aluminum July contract. Today, the shipment sentiment index in central China was 2.87, down 0.03 day-on-day, and the purchase sentiment index was 2.11, down 0.02 day-on-day. In terms of inventories, aluminum ingot inventory in major consumption areas fell 0.55 day-on-day today, with destocking mainly seen in Guangdong and Wuxi.

[SMM Nickel Flash] June 30 – The nickel iron market saw the bull-bear divergence widen further, with suppliers still holding prices firm and steel mills continuing to push for lower prices. Transactions across the entire range faced difficulties progressing, and overall market trading was sluggish.

[SMM Nickel Flash] June 30 – SMM high-grade NPI market sentiment index stood at 2.06, down 0.03 MoM, the upstream sentiment index for high-grade NPI at 2.36, down 0.04 MoM, and the downstream sentiment index for high-grade NPI at 1.76, down 0.01 MoM.

[SMM Aluminum Alloy Daily Review] Today, ADC12 market quotes continued to decline overall. SMM ADC12 price fell by 150 yuan/mt from the previous day to 23,800 yuan/mt. SHFE aluminum and cast aluminum alloy futures weakened, putting pressure on spot quotes, and enterprises followed suit. At the same time, the decline in aluminum scrap procurement costs was relatively limited. Coupled with tight tax invoices and persistently tight spot supply, cost support remained in place, and sentiment of holding back from selling at low prices was evident. Overall, although current ADC12 prices pulled back under the drag from futures, cost support and tight spot supply limited the decline.