【China's Market Regulator Publishes Six Merger Review Cases to Curb “Involution” in Key Industries】 China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) published six typical merger review cases aimed at addressing excessive and disorderly competition, including TCL Zhonghuan New Energy Technology's acquisition of a stake in Yidao New Energy and the establishment of a joint venture for lithium-ion battery separators by Cangzhou Mingzhu and Guangzhou Zengcheng Development Zone. SAMR said it will continue to strengthen merger and antitrust reviews in key sectors including photovoltaics and lithium batteries, while supporting corporate mergers and acquisitions that improve asset utilization and operational efficiency.

【Nth Cycle to Go Public via SPAC Merger, Expanding U.S. Black Mass Refining】 U.S. critical minerals refiner Nth Cycle has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. VI, with the combined company expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange at an implied enterprise value of approximately $585 million. Nth Cycle’s OYSTER electrochemical refining platform processes black mass from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and battery manufacturing scrap to recover critical materials including nickel and lithium. The transaction is expected to support the company’s expansion of domestic critical mineral and battery material refining capabilities in the U.S.

[SMM Flash] Sinomine Resource Group is in talks to acquire Globe Metals & Mining’s Kanyika niobium development project in Malawi. The potential transaction would bring the Chinese critical-minerals group closer to a project it is already supporting through Sinomine International (Zambia) Engineering, which has been involved in early construction and development works at Kanyika. Globe began construction in January 2026 under a cost-reimbursable collaboration agreement, while first oxide production is targeted for the first quarter of 2028. Kanyika is positioned as a potential source of niobium and tantalum oxides, with Globe’s 2026 project plan targeting approximately 3,000 tonnes per year of Nb₂O₅ and 150 tonnes per year of Ta₂O₅ at full scale. Globe has previously retained full ownership and offtake rights while using Sinomine’s regional construction and processing expertise. Any acquisition would strengthen Sinomine’s exposure to niobium outside China and could add another strategic African critical-minerals asset to its expanding international portfolio.

On August 20, Guodian Power Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guodian Power") issued an announcement regarding the initiation of acquisition of certain assets of its controlling shareholder. The announcement stated that Guodian Power, as the integration platform for conventional energy generation business of China Energy Investment Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "China Energy Group"), plans to initiate the acquisition of equity interests in seven energy platform companies under the controlling shareholder. The total installed controlled capacity in operation is approximately 320,000 kW, and the total installed controlled capacity under construction/planned is 13.54 million kW. Guodian Power intends to make the acquisition in cash.

Brookfield and La Caisse have completed the acquisition of Canadian renewable energy producer Boralex, purchasing all outstanding Class A shares for CAD 37.25 per share in cash. Following the transaction, Boralex will continue operating as an independent company, while its shares have been delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange. Boralex owns about 3.8GW of operating wind, solar, hydro and battery storage assets across Canada, France, the US and the UK.

SMM learned that a computing power leasing platform, as a partner of a leading AI computing service provider, has recently been acquiring a large amount of server leasing resources and has access to reliable downstream customers. Its H100 leasing budget is set at a five-year fixed price of 75,000 yuan per unit per month. SMM believes that the platform's bulk acquisition combined with a fixed budget indicates that the intermediary layer is scaling up its hoarding of H100 resources, reinforcing the trend of locking in prices through long-term contracts.

Chariot Resources has entered a term sheet with Chinese partners for a proposed partner-funded drilling and potential direct shipping ore (DSO) program across its Nigerian lithium portfolio. The company has signed the binding term sheet with Xiamen C&D subsidiary C&D (Hainan), Hong Kong ZhongNuo Energy, and C&C Minerals for work at one project selected from the Fonlo, Iganna, and Saki project areas. Under the proposed structure, ZhongNuo will fund and undertake a minimum 1,500m diamond drilling program and, subject to satisfactory results, fund and operate potential trial mining. C&D will then act as the offtake buyer and US dollar payer for qualifying DSO. The parties have agreed to a 90-day exclusivity period to complete site reviews, select one project, and negotiate a definitive agreement. C&D has paid Chariot a refundable US$100,000 exclusivity fee. Potential phase one trial mining is capped at a maximum 240,000 tonnes of DSO — a contractual maximum, not a production target. Chariot notes no mineral resource estimate or ore reserve has been estimated for any of the project areas. Proposed commercial structure If executed, Chariot has proposed to establish a special-purpose vehicle owned 66.667% by Chariot and 33.333% by Continental Lithium. The vehicle would hold short-term mining and marketing rights, sell qualifying DSO to C&D, and receive sale proceeds. Net DSO sale proceeds after applicable costs would be allocated proportionally between the special-purpose vehicle and ZhongNuo, with the larger share payable to ZhongNuo to reflect its proposed funding and operation of the program. C&D would then provide Chariot with a US$500,000 interest-free prepayment on execution of the definitive agreement, amortised against future DSO invoices. Key pricing mechanism: DSO pricing will be determined under an agreed formula linked to the Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) China battery-grade lithium carbonate price. No party would be required to mine, sell, or deliver a shipment where the calculated DSO price falls below US$150 per dry metric tonne. Chariot Executive Chair and Managing Director Shanthar Pathmanathan says the term sheet provides a 'structured' pathway to evaluate one project from the Nigerian portfolio with proposed partner funding. "The phased structure is important: the parties must first complete site reviews, diligence and drilling, and the commercial program would proceed only if definitive agreements are executed and all conditions are satisfied," Pathmanathan says. Substantive arrangements take effect following execution of a definitive agreement and satisfaction of conditions precedent, including due diligence, completion of the Nigerian portfolio acquisition announced in July 2025, and confirmation of mineral titles. The parties must select one project during the exclusivity period, negotiate the definitive agreement, and complete the acquisition prior to commencement of drilling. Chariot Resources is an explorer focused on the discovery and development of lithium opportunities in Nigeria. Its portfolio consists of four project clusters covering 257.1km² across the Oyo and Kwara states. SMM ： The key highlight of this DSO term sheet between Chariot, C&D, and ZhongNuo is the pricing mechanism linked to SMM's battery-grade lithium carbonate spot price, with a US$150/tonne floor that creates a two-way protection mechanism. C&D has long been active in the mining sector, so this is not its first foray but rather a further deepening of its existing upstream presence — using the SMM price as a bridge to more tightly bind pricing power with the domestic Chinese market. That said, the project remains at an early stage with no resource estimate published, and final execution still hinges on the 90-day due diligence and mineral title confirmation process. Source：mining.com

1. Procurement Conditions This procurement project, the Ansteel Lizhong 2026 Furnace Charge Melting Furnace Water-Cooled Cable Project (AGGZLZHGXHD260819312282), is purchased by Ansteel Lizhong (Guangzhou) Stainless Steel Co., Ltd. The procurement funds come from self-raised funds. The project has met the procurement conditions and is now subject to public inquiry. 2. Project Overview and Procurement Scope 2.1 Project Name: Ansteel Lizhong 2026 Furnace Charge Melting Furnace Water-Cooled Cable Project 2.2 Alternative Procurement Methods in Case of Failure: Transfer to negotiation procurement, transfer to direct procurement 2.3 The procurement content, scope, and scale of this project are detailed in the attached "Material List Attachment.pdf". 3. Bidder Qualifications 3.1 This procurement does not allow joint bidding. 3.2 This procurement requires bidders to have the following qualification requirements: (1) Production-type business license (2) Distribution-type business license 3.3 This procurement requires bidders to meet the following registered capital requirements: Production-type registered capital: 3 million yuan or above Distribution-type registered capital: 3 million yuan or above 3.4 This procurement requires bidders to have the following performance requirements: Provide performance information on the sale of water-cooled cable related products within the last 3 years (including but not limited to providing relevant contracts and corresponding invoices, or providing relevant contracts and corresponding acceptance report original scans or photos, at least 1 copy). 3.5 This procurement requires bidders to have the following capability requirements, financial requirements, and other requirements: Financial requirement: The bidder's registered capital shall not be less than 3 million yuan. (If the registered capital is not shown on the enterprise's business license, the bidder may provide relevant proof of registered capital, such as the public report downloaded from the [National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System](www.gsxt.gov.cn).) Capability requirement: Provide enterprise qualification requirements for annual inspection: (1) Original scan or photo of the business license (or duplicate). (2) Original scan or photo of the tax registration certificate (or duplicate) (except for the three-in-one license). (3) Original scan or photo of the organization code certificate (or duplicate) (except for the three-in-one license). (4) Other qualification certification: No requirement. Other requirements: See attachment (if necessary). 3.6 For projects that must be subject to tender by law, bids from dishonest judgment debtors are invalid. 4. Procurement Document Acquisition 4.1 Any interested bidder shall log in to Ansteel Smart Tender and Bidding Platform http://bid.ansteel.cn from 10:00 on August 20, 2026 to 08:15 on August 31, 2026 (Beijing time, the same hereinafter) to download the electronic procurement documents. Click to view tender details:

August 20, SMM News: Base metals: At midday close, most base metals on the domestic market rose. SHFE copper rose 0.36%, SHFE aluminum fell 0.57%. SHFE lead rose 0.28%. SHFE zinc edged down. SHFE tin rose 1.68%. SHFE nickel rose 1.19%. Additionally, the most-traded cast aluminum futures edged up, while the most-traded alumina contract fell 0.3%. The most-traded lithium carbonate contract rose 0.98%. The most-traded silicon metal contract rose 0.57%. The most-traded polysilicon futures rose 0.48%. Ferrous metals showed mixed performance. Iron ore fell 2.17%, rebar fell 0.46%, and hot-rolled coil fell 0.27%. Stainless steel rose 0.63%. Coking coal and coke: the most-traded coking coal contract rose 0.25%, and the most-traded coke contract rose 1.12%. On the overseas market base metals side, as of 11:40, LME metals generally rose. LME copper, LME lead, and LME zinc each gained less than 0.3%. LME aluminum fell 0.79%. LME tin rose 0.73%. LME nickel fell 0.64%. Precious metals, as of 11:40, COMEX gold rose 0.11%, COMEX silver rose 2.11%. Domestic precious metals: SHFE gold rose 2.47%, the most-traded SHFE silver contract rose 4.93%. Additionally, at midday close, the most-traded platinum futures rose 4.52%, and the most-traded palladium futures rose 2.44%. At midday close, the most-traded Europe container shipping futures fell 1.46% to 1,716.5 points. As of 11:40 on August 20, noon quotes for some futures: Spot market & fundamentals Aluminum: Today the futures market continued its decline, but the south China spot market was steady with improvement. The cumulative decline in absolute prices had been substantial, clearly breaking below the monthly moving average. Coupled with stable inventory draws and a significant single-day decline, these dual positives prompted holders to generally hold back from selling more firmly... Macro front China: [Unchanged for the 15th consecutive month! August LPR quotes released: 5-year above 3.5%, 1-year 3%] China's August loan prime rate (LPR) was released on August 20, with both 1-year and 5-year above LPR unchanged. The People's Bank of China authorized the National Interbank Funding Center to announce that the loan prime rate (LPR) on August 20, 2026 is: 1-year LPR at 3.0%, 5-year above LPR at 3.5%. The above LPR is valid until the next LPR release. The 7-day reverse repo rate, as the main policy rate, has remained unchanged for 15 consecutive months since its cut in May 2025. Therefore, the pricing basis for LPR quotes has not changed this month. The LPR was last adjusted in May 2025, with both the 1-year and over-5-year LPR cut by 10 basis points. [Shanghai issues "Housing Eight Measures" for property market: Down payment for second homes outside the outer ring road reduced from 20% to 15%, and interim home purchase subsidy policy introduced] To better meet residents' rigid and improved housing needs and promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market, on August 20, six departments including the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Management, the Shanghai Municipal Housing Authority, the Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau, the Shanghai Branch of the People's Bank of China, the Shanghai Financial Regulatory Bureau, and the Shanghai Housing Provident Fund Management Center jointly issued the 《Notice on Optimizing Local Real Estate Policy Measures》 (hereinafter referred to as the 《Notice》), effective from August 21, 2026. The 《Notice》 mainly includes 8 policy measures in 5 aspects: optimizing housing provident fund withdrawal, optimizing personal housing credit, implementing trade-in home purchase subsidies, promoting housing voucher placement, and advancing the acquisition of second-hand housing. [Beijing Yizhuang: Will accelerate the mass production of 100,000-unit level embodied AI robots] According to the "Beijing Yizhuang" official account, on August 19, the 2026 World Robot Conference opened in Beijing Yizhuang. At the "Open Cooperation" main forum, Li Quan, member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, released the "Beijing Machine Domain"—a vision of building a new society of human-machine integrated embodied AI. Beijing Yizhuang will accelerate the development of 100 feature robot products that can be practically deployed, promote their application in 1,000 niche areas; accelerate the mass production of 100,000-unit level embodied AI robots, and form a production capacity of 1 million sets of key core parts. (from Wall Street News APP) The PBOC conducted zero 7-day reverse repo operations for 8 consecutive working days. Today, 327.4 billion yuan of reverse repos matured. US dollar side: As of 11:40, the US dollar index rose 0.03% to 98.83. US Fed meeting minutes showed that several officials last month leaned toward raising rates, while many said that if inflation failed to decline, further tightening of monetary policy would be necessary. However, at the July meeting, uncertainty continued to heavily influence Fed officials' judgment. The minutes showed: "Regarding the monetary policy outlook, participants reiterated that their interpretation of future data would be a key component of policy discussions." The FOMC voted 9 to 3 in July to keep the benchmark interest rate in the range of 3.5% to 3.75%. Logan, Hammack, and Kashkari voted against, advocating for a 25-basis-point rate hike. Two other regional Fed presidents who did not have voting rights in July—Schmid and Musalem—also later stated that if they had had voting rights at that time, they would have supported a rate hike at that meeting. Most of the policy discussions at the July meeting revolved around differing judgments on future inflation trends. The meeting minutes stated: "Most participants expected that inflation would gradually pull back over the remainder of the year as the effects of tariffs and earlier energy price increases faded, but many participants noted that the possibility of inflation remaining elevated persisted." According to the CME FedWatch: The probability of the US Fed keeping rates unchanged by September is 67.3%, and the probability of a cumulative 25-basis-point rate hike is 32.7%. The probability of the Fed keeping rates unchanged by October is 58.3%, the probability of a cumulative 25-basis-point hike is 37.3%, and the probability of a cumulative 50-basis-point hike is 4.3%. Four US Senate Democrats led by Chris Van Hollen have demanded that Fed Chairman Warsh publicly disclose the content of his conversations with Trump, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the two had spoken multiple times, even though Warsh's schedule did not show such calls. The senators said that without disclosing contact information, it could lead the public to mistakenly believe that the White House is steering monetary policy. Last month, under questioning by Van Hollen, Warsh did not directly respond to the matter. The senators demanded that Warsh confirm in writing whether he has had any contact with Trump since taking office, or amend his schedule to disclose relevant calls. In early August, White House National Economic Council Director Hassett downplayed these calls, saying that Trump did not pressure Warsh on rate decisions; and Trump himself said that he had only had one brief conversation with Warsh. In contrast, former Fed Chairman Powell had detailed records of his calls with Trump and disclosed several face-to-face meetings. The US Treasury issued a statement saying it will at least double the size of liquidity support repo operations targeting long-term nominal coupon securities, covering two maturity buckets: 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year tenors. The current maximum size per operation is $2 billion, and future operations will be at least $4 billion each. The adjustment will take effect on September 9, 2026, and will be implemented for the remainder of the current refunding quarter (through November 4, 2026). The Treasury will provide more information on future repo sizes at the next quarterly refunding meeting, scheduled for November 4, 2026. The expansion of the repurchase operation scale reflects the Ministry of Finance's intention to provide stronger liquidity support for the long-term nominal government bond market. The Ministry of Finance will announce the updated temporary government bond repurchase arrangements later. US Treasury Secretary Bessent this year has become one of the most interventionist Treasury secretaries in decades through a series of unconventional operations, aiming to curb the rise in US borrowing costs. This week, the US Treasury announced it would "at least double" its originally planned repurchase of 10-year to 30-year bonds. Previously, the Treasury had signaled a possible reduction in long-term debt issuance. On July 31, Bessent led the US government's first yen purchase in 30 years. Former Treasury official Mark Sobel commented that Bessent is "absolutely an aggressive interventionist," with a style reminiscent of his hedge fund background. He believes that Bessent and senior government officials are clearly concerned about rising long-term US Treasury yields. Affected by inflation, Fed monetary policy, and fiscal deficits, the 10-year US Treasury yield has been rising, pushing up mortgage rates and dragging down economic growth. Some analysts point out that Bessent is trying to stabilize the market through yield curve intervention, but also warn that without addressing high debt and fiscal deficits, this strategy is difficult to sustain in the long term. (Jin Shi Data APP) Data: Today, the following data will be released: Australia July seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, Germany July PPI month-on-month, Switzerland July trade balance, UK August CBI industrial order expectations, US initial jobless claims for the week ending August 15, US August Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index, US July Conference Board leading index month-on-month, China July year-to-date installed power generation capacity, China July year-to-date installed power generation capacity year-on-year rate, among others. In addition, attention should be paid to: the Ministry of Commerce's August first regular press conference; interview of 2028 FOMC voter and St. Louis Fed President Musalem by CNBC; Alibaba's earnings release. Crude oil: As of 11:40, both crude oil benchmarks moved sideways, with WTI up 0.05% and Brent up 0.23%. With US-Iran negotiations in a stalemate, oil prices moved sideways. According to CCTV News: On August 19 local time, US President Trump posted on his social media platform "Truth Social" that Iran failed to seize the opportunity to reach an agreement, so he announced the "harshest economic action ever taken against any country" against Iran, calling it an unprecedented "economic war and economic isolation." Trump said the US is building a record number of oil pipelines to reduce dependence on the Strait of Hormuz. He said that with the emergence of more alternative supply routes and the US strengthening its control over the strait, the importance of the Strait of Hormuz will decline. Trump also said that although some had predicted that oil prices could skyrocket to $350, current oil prices remain around $84 to $85 per barrel. Two US officials told Axios that the US military has quietly established a shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz, carrying millions of barrels of oil daily. Although the broader war remains deadlocked, the operation has achieved significant results. The operation has been ongoing for weeks, and 15 to 20 tankers have already passed through the southern channel off the coast of Oman to enter or exit the Strait. Officials said that about 10 million barrels of oil are shipped through the strait daily and enter the global energy market, but this figure is about half of the pre-war volume. This US-led operation is alleviating one of the most severe impacts of the war: the disruption of oil supply, which has driven a sharp rise in crude oil prices. Officials stated that although the current volume of oil shipped through the strait is still below pre-war levels, it has already had a notable impact on global oil supply. (Jinshi Data) In addition, Venezuelan oil minister Paula Enao told investors in Houston that Venezuela hopes to sign production-sharing contracts and increase oil production in this country with the world's largest crude oil reserves. Enao said that Venezuela currently has 916 blocks available for exploration and production. She said Venezuela is known for heavy crude, but there are also investment opportunities in light and medium crude and natural gas. She said: "We need to reach these agreements to enter these new blocks." "There is a whole world waiting for you to explore." This week, Venezuela has signed agreements with oilfield services giant Schlumberger (SLB.N) and independent oil producer Hnt Oil, but the country hopes to attract more private investment to revive oil production. Over the past 20 years, Venezuela's oil production has been steadily declining. Enao said about 140 companies attended the meeting, and the scale of on-site investors showed the market's interest in investing in Venezuela. Spot Market Overview: ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ►

Today, the lowest prices for A100-80G in the Yangtze River Delta and H100-80G in Western China both moved downward. The lowest monthly rental for A100 in the Yangtze River Delta dropped to 34,000 yuan (down 4.23%), and the per-hour price dropped to 5.9 yuan (down 4.22%), as Ampere inventory release boosted the lower end. The lowest monthly rental for H100 in Western China dropped to 74,000 yuan (down 1.99%), and the per-hour price dropped to 12.85 yuan (down 1.98%); yesterday's trial of high long-term contract prices did not establish a new anchor. The remaining 17 models and regions remained unchanged. The market entered a phase of "inventory rotation dominance and high long-term contract price trials.