On January 18, 2026, at 15:03, a significant explosion occurred at the rare earth steel plate plant of Bao Gang United Steel. As a key enterprise in China’s rare earth industry, the incident sparked global concerns about rare earth supply and raised expectations of a new round of price increases. However, a comprehensive analysis of the accident’s nature, industry chain structure, and market mechanisms indicates that the impact on rare earth supply is limited and unlikely to substantially affect price trends.

In China, only companies that can adapt to China's speed and fully leverage its ecosystem will have a better future.

QMB New Energy Materials, an Indonesia-based nickel and cobalt joint venture led by China’s GEM, was forced to cut production by at least half after safety inspections by the environmental ministry identified issues with the company’s tailings storage, according to people familiar with the matter. The company’s nickel equivalent output in December 2025 may decrease by as much as 6,000 tonnes, and the reduction could continue into the first quarter of 2026, with the possibility of further declines, one source said. QMB had previously suspended nearly all production in March following a fatal tailings landslide that killed four workers, prompting stricter government oversight of tailings management. Located in the IMIP industrial park on Sulawesi Island, QMB produces mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), which contains nickel and cobalt for battery manufacturing, and has an annual production capacity of 96,000 tonnes of nickel equivalent. GEM holds a 63% stake in the venture, with other shareholders including Tsingshan, Brunp (a CATL subsidiary), EcoPro, and Japan’s Hanwa. Earlier, the Indonesian environment ministry ordered IMIP to rectify issues after discovering 12 million tonnes of illegally stored tailings.

[SMM Analysis:Overview of Q3 Copper Production of the Top 20 Global Mining Companies in 2025] According to SMM statistics, the copper production of the world's top 20 mining companies in the third quarter of 2025 was 3,455 kt, a decrease of 4.1% quarter-on-quarter and 6.5% year-on-year. The copper output of individual mining companies saw a significant decline in the third quarter, due to a sharp increase in production-side disruptions in the first three quarters.

[Smelters Primarily Procure Domestic Zinc Ore, Focus on Subsequent TC Results Across Regions]: Zinc concentrate TCs remained stable in September, with the SMM monthly average domestic zinc concentrate TC holding steady at 3,950 yuan/mt in metal content. On a weekly basis, the SMM Zn50 domestic weekly average TC was flat WoW at 3,900 yuan/mt in metal content, while the SMM imported zinc concentrate index rose $1.25/dmt WoW to $93.75/dmt...

In July, the global tungsten market saw another rally, with domestic and international tungsten prices hitting new highs. Among them, tungsten concentrate prices rose by 11.2% in July, ammonium paratungstate (APT) by 13.7%, tungsten carbide powder by 13.3%, tungsten powder by 13.8%, and ferrotungsten by 13.6%. In Europe, sodium paratungstate closed at $460-490 per ton-unit at the end of July, up 2.7% month-on-month. European ferrotungsten closed at $55-59.6 per kilogram of tungsten at the end of July, a 10.7% increase from the start of the month.