The first-phase target has increased from 17 GW to 30 GW, but storage, grid readiness, financing and local-content rules will determine how quickly policy ambition becomes equipment demand.

This week, ferrous metals trended mostly higher, with performance varying slightly among varieties. Coking coal and coke were the strongest performers, while iron ore and finished steel posted relatively limited gains. During the week, safety supervision remained stringent, the pace of production resumptions at coal mines fell short of expectations, and structural shortages of coking coal grades further deepened, leading coking coal futures to continue rising. Coking plants suffered heavy losses...

According to reports, the Hyundai Motor Union (Metal Workers' Union Hyundai Motor Branch) launched a full strike on the 21st due to a deadlock in this year's wage and labor negotiations. This is the first time the union has taken such action since 2016. As a result, all production lines at the Ulsan, Jeonju, and Asan plants were shut down that day. Because both day-shift and night-shift workers went on strike for 8 hours each, the production lines were actually suspended for 16 hours that day. Currently, the labor and management sides are locked in a tug-of-war over three demands: raising bonuses, reinstating employees fired for union activities, and extending the retirement age. The negotiations remain deadlocked, with differences yet to be resolved.

[SMM Tin Morning Briefing: Night Session Consecutive Gains Stabilized at 428,000, Downstream Mainly Rigid Demand Price Fixing at 424,000-426,000]

According to SMM statistics, total construction steel inventory this period was 8.3259 million mt, down 217,100 mt MoM (-2.54% MoM), shifting from increase to decline. Both mill inventory and social inventory destocked to varying degrees. Social inventory destocking accelerated notably as arrivals dropped. With the dock closure now lifted, subsequent concentrated arrivals of construction steel may lead to social inventory accumulation.

Metinvest's Italian subsidiary, Ferriera Valsider, officially declared force majeure in mid-August 2026 after an unforeseeable breakdown forced the complete shutdown of its hot-rolled coil and heavy plate production lines. The company suspended all contractual performance terms, citing an inability to immediately determine the duration of the significant disruption. Technical teams are currently assessing the damaged equipment to establish a reliable repair timeline and restore normal operations.

According to South Korean regulatory filings, Korea Zinc reported consolidated Q2 operating profit of ₩587 billion, versus ₩1.5 billion for Young Poong. Their respective H1 cumulative operating profits were ₩1.33 trillion and ₩44.8 billion. Korea Zinc’s Onsan smelter maintained 100% utilization in H1, while Young Poong’s zinc-focused Seokpo smelter utilization declined from 57.23% in Q1 to 51.7% in Q2, though it remained above the 45.95% recorded for full-year 2025. Young Poong’s Q2 revenue rose 42.2% year on year to ₩853.2 billion and operating profit turned positive from a ₩94.1 billion loss a year earlier but fell sharply from ₩43.3 billion in Q1. Environmental uncertainty remains material: financial regulators imposed a fine of about ₩20.4 billion over the accounting treatment of soil and groundwater remediation costs. The climate, energy and environment minister said a suspension could be imposed if continued operation at the current site is determined to threaten the Nakdong River drinking-water source; no shutdown has been ordered.

Minerals and Metals Group (MMG) announced on August 19 that a fatal accident occurred at its Las Bambas copper mine in Peru on August 18 local time. The incident took place at a clarification tank approximately 9 kilometers from the beneficiation plant, where workers were replacing a water pump. Two people were killed — one Las Bambas employee and one employee of contractor SINAR Perú — and three other workers were injured and are currently receiving medical treatment. MMG’s CEO stated that the company has immediately launched an investigation into the accident and will provide relevant support and psychological counseling to the families of the deceased, the injured personnel, and mine site employees. As a precautionary measure, MMG has suspended activities in the area related to the accident and has temporarily halted operations at the Las Bambas mine, with production expected to resume in stages starting August 21. In H1 2026, the Las Bambas mine produced 210,200 mt of copper contained in copper concentrates, with Q2 production of 109,200 mt. MMG previously maintained the mine’s 2026 production guidance for copper in copper concentrates at 380,000–400,000 mt and anticipated that production would reach the upper end of the guidance range. The accident announcement did not disclose the specific production loss caused by the shutdown, nor did it adjust the full-year production guidance.

[SMM Tin Morning Update: Night Session Rebounds to Reclaim 424,000, July FOMC Minutes Set the Tone for September Path]

[SMM Silicon-based PV Morning Brief: Solar Cell Market Diverges, EVA Prices Move Sideways] The solar cell market showed divergence, with quotes for different sizes moving in different trends. For 210N cells sold to the Chinese market, earlier high prices lacked support from actual orders, so producers lowered their quotes, and prices pulled back slightly to 0.327-0.343 yuan/W. Quotes for 183 and 210R cells were largely stable, as producers stopped pushing up high prices. Affected by price adjustments by some enterprises, the high end of the price range narrowed, while the low end moved up simultaneously. Currently, the 210R price range is 0.327-0.356 yuan/W, and the 183 price range is 0.325-0.361 yuan/W. Overall, demand outside China supported 183 and 210R cells, while weak domestic procurement weighed on 210N. In the short term, the futures market diverged, and changes in actual order transactions need to be closely tracked.