This week, the overseas rare earth market remained stable overall. Quotes for cerium oxide, lanthanum oxide, Pr-Nd oxide, dysprosium and terbium oxides, and corresponding metals on FOB/CIF terms were largely steady. The mild adjustments in China’s domestic prices had not yet been transmitted outside China, with sluggish trading and continued shrinkage in deliveries. On the project front, the focus was on building non-China supply chains in the West: Australia’s Iluka Eneabba refinery secured a A$1.65 billion federal non-recourse loan and signed a four-year, 1,200 mt magnetic material rare earth offtake agreement with an unnamed global automaker; US-based Energy Fuels planned to acquire German magnetic material producer VAC for $1.9 billion, complemented by a combined $1.45 billion dual-line loan from the US Strategic Capital Office and the Department of Defense to expand capacity at its White Mesa facility; Canada’s Ucore shipped NdPr oxide samples with 99.5% purity for downstream qualification; in South America, Aclara received environmental approval for its Penco project in Chile; local processing projects in Nigeria and South Africa also advanced simultaneously.

Woodside Energy has signed a gas sale and purchase agreement with Alcoa of Australia to supply 31.1 petajoules (PJ) of natural gas from 2027 to 2030. The gas will be delivered to Alcoa’s alumina refineries in Western Australia, helping secure energy supply for one of the region’s key industrial sectors. Alumina is the primary raw material used in aluminium production, making reliable energy supply critical to maintaining stable output. Woodside said the agreement strengthens its long-term partnership with Alcoa and supports energy security for Western Australian industry. In 2025, Woodside supplied approximately 90.3 PJ of domestic gas, accounting for around 21% of the state’s total gas supply. Market participants expect the deal to improve cost predictability, reduce the risk of production disruptions and support the competitiveness of energy-intensive industries, including the aluminium sector.

Andromeda Metals has commenced commissioning of its high-purity alumina (HPA) pilot plant, marking another step toward commercial production using its Great White kaolin resource and proprietary processing technology. The pilot plant will operate on a continuous production basis through the third quarter of 2026 and provide key technical data for future feasibility studies and project development. The company plans to produce commercial-grade 4N HPA samples in the second half of 2026 for customer qualification testing, a critical step before securing supply agreements. Previous laboratory work achieved HPA purity levels of 99.9985%. The pilot program will also assess the recovery potential of by-products such as amorphous silica and gallium, which could provide additional revenue streams. Andromeda aims to establish an alternative high-purity alumina supply chain serving advanced applications including electronics, energy storage and specialty materials.

Morningstar analyst Phelix Lee noted in a report that capital expenditure by leading memory chip makers may further increase this year and next. This growth is largely driven by newly negotiated long-term supply agreements with clients, which Morningstar believes contain terms conducive to sustaining stable profit margins and imply that clients have assumed higher financial commitments. As a result, memory chip capacity growth could be very robust, especially in the DRAM and HBM segments.

Recently, AIKO and Tigon Power, a renowned energy development and operation company in the Philippines, officially held a signing ceremony. The two parties announced that they have reached a module supply agreement for the SAPANG 173MW large-scale ground-mounted PV power plant project in Pampanga Province, Philippines. According to the agreement, AIKO will supply the entire project with high-efficiency ABC modules, leveraging advanced PV technology to support the Philippines' green energy transition.

Chalco Zhengzhou Research Institute has actively responded to the requirements of Chalco Group's "3+4+4+4" scientific and technological innovation system, closely aligned with the "four special strengths" objectives and the "Digital-Intelligent New Chalco" development direction, and successfully developed the seventh-generation aluminum electrolysis pot control system. The system has achieved breakthroughs in key technical areas such as intelligent crust breaking, current distribution optimization, and online monitoring. By innovating material balance and energy balance algorithms, it has significantly enhanced three core capabilities: real-time perception of operating conditions, intelligent decision-making response, and precise control. In industrial application, the new-generation pot control system has demonstrated notable advantages: the precision of alumina concentration control has been substantially improved, effectively ensuring the long-term stable operation of electrolysis pots; current efficiency has achieved a breakthrough increase, providing key technical equipment support for aluminum enterprises to realize stable and high production as well as reduced energy consumption. Recently, Chalco Zhengzhou Research Institute reached a strategic cooperation with a key enterprise in the Xinjiang region and signed a supply agreement for 240 pot control systems, a move that will further accelerate the intelligent transformation of the aluminum electrolysis industry.

Qatar Aluminium Manufacturing Company (Qamco) confirmed on Sunday that it has terminated its marketing agency relationship with its partner, Norway's Hydro, in their joint venture, Qatalum. The company did not specify the reason. "Following the termination of the partnership, Qatar Aluminium will temporarily assume responsibility for the marketing and sales of its aluminum products," Qatalum said in a statement. It added that the company will continue constructive communication with Hydro to ensure an orderly transition. It is reported on Friday that Qatar Aluminium cancelled its metal supply agreement with Hydro; Hydro issued a force majeure notice to its customers. Qatalum, established in 2006, has an annual production capacity of 648,000 tons and is a 50/50 joint venture between Hydro and Qatar Energy; Qatar Energy holds a 51% stake in Qamco.

【SMM Steel】Salzgitter Flachstahl and EWE have signed a long-term green hydrogen supply agreement. Starting in 2030, EWE will deliver about 10000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually for seven years via the hydrogen core network. The hydrogen will be produced at EWE's 320 MW Emden electrolysis facility targeting start-up in 2027. The volume will cover around 6.5% of future annual hydrogen demand for Salzgitter's SALCOS® low-carbon steelmaking program. Salzgitter also plans to produce an additional 9000 tonnes per year with an on-site 100 MW electrolysis plant. Through SALCOS® Salzgitter is targeting a 95% CO₂ reduction by 2033. Executives warned that the sector still faces regulatory hurdles and high production costs calling for more flexible policy support.

During SNEC 2026, Jinko Solar held 10 consecutive strategic partnership signing ceremonies, reaching Tiger Neo 3.0 supply agreements with C&D Emerging Energy, Jiangsu Yude New Energy, Xcel Renewable Energy Corp. of the Philippines, UCC Group of Bangladesh, and six core partners in Pakistan. The partnerships span multiple key markets, with application scenarios covering utility-scale ground-mounted plants, commercial and industrial distributed projects, and other diverse application areas, fully promoting the large-scale deployment and widespread application of Tiger Neo 3.0 high-efficiency modules in the global market.

Italian steelmaker Marcegaglia has announced an additional €600 million investment for its Mistral low-carbon steel project in Fos-sur-Mer, France, raising the total planned investment to approximately €1.2 billion. The expansion aims to transform the former Ascometal site, increasing its annual liquid steel production from the current 100,000-150,000 metric tons (mt) to roughly 2.1 million mt by mid-2028, with rolling capacity set to reach 3 million mt per year. The project includes a €450 million contract with Danieli for new technologies and a 10-year nuclear power supply agreement with EDF to support decarbonization via Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) and Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) usage. With a final investment decision expected by the end of 2026, this significant capacity addition will greatly enhance Marcegaglia's upstream self-sufficiency and alter the European flat steel supply landscape, providing a competitive edge in the growing green steel market.