Secondary Zinc Oxide Production Fell in February, While Secondary Zinc Oxide Payables Remained Relatively Firm. What Trend Will Secondary Zinc Oxide Show in March?

This week, Pr-Nd alloy prices generally fell first and then rose, and have now stabilized in the range of 980,000-1 million yuan/mt. This price fluctuation was mainly driven by the impact of news factors on market sentiment.

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Rare Earth Prices Fell First, Then Rose; Pr-Nd, Dysprosium, and Terbium Saw Wide Swings] Due to the combined impact of market news and falling futures prices, suppliers in the Pr-Nd oxide market lacked confidence in the future market and proactively cut prices for shipments. However, upstream separation plants believed that the tight supply pattern of Pr-Nd oxide had not changed. Therefore, Pr-Nd oxide prices pulled back to 760,000-780,000 yuan/mt before rebounding to 790,000-800,000 yuan/mt.

[Operating Rates Continued to Rise This Week, but Order Demand Had Not Fully Started] The rise in operating rates this week was mainly driven by enterprises gradually resuming operations and production. On the order side, orders at top-tier enterprises generally remained stable, but overall industry demand had not yet fully recovered. Affected by the relatively late Chinese New Year break, current end-use demand in rubber, desulfurization, and other sectors still had not fully started, while performance in the ceramics sector was also relatively weak, and it would still take time for demand to see a substantive improvement......

[SMM Lithium Battery Electrolyte Market Weekly Review: Electrolyte Prices Remained Temporarily Stable This Week (2026.3.9-3.12)] From March 9 to March 12, 2026, electrolyte prices remained temporarily stable. Considering the overall trend in cost-side changes and the supply-demand pattern, electrolyte prices were expected to remain temporarily stable in the short term.

I. Coal-to-Hydrogen Shandong anthracite transaction range [1,710-1,710], average hydrogen cost [1.58 yuan/m³] Shanxi anthracite transaction range [910-910], average hydrogen cost [0.96 yuan/m³] Hebei anthracite transaction range [1,390-1,390], average hydrogen cost [1.33 yuan/m³] Henan anthracite transaction range [1,010-1,010], average hydrogen cost [1.05 yuan/m³] II. Natural Gas-to-Hydrogen Pearl River Delta natural gas transaction range [5,520-5,620], average hydrogen cost [2.62 yuan/m³] Zhejiang natural gas transaction range [5,470-5,800], average hydrogen cost [2.62 yuan/m³] Guangxi natural gas transaction range [5,570-5,990], average hydrogen cost [2.65 yuan/m³] Eastern Guangdong natural gas transaction range [5,500-5,590], average hydrogen cost [2.58 yuan/m³] Henan natural gas transaction range [4,540-4,780], average hydrogen cost [2.25 yuan/m³] Hebei natural gas transaction range [4,610-5,405], average hydrogen cost [2.37 yuan/m³] Hubei natural gas transaction range [5,060-5,910], average hydrogen cost [2.57 yuan/m³] Guizhou natural gas transaction range [5,080-5,660], average hydrogen cost [2.52 yuan/m³] Sichuan natural gas transaction range [5,025-5,325], average hydrogen cost [2.46 yuan/m³] Shanxi natural gas transaction range [4,500-4,700], average hydrogen cost [2.18 yuan/m³] Shandong natural gas transaction range [4,840-5,460], average hydrogen cost [2.45 yuan/m³] Heilongjiang natural gas transaction range [5,990-6,300], average hydrogen cost [2.83 yuan/m³] Inner Mongolia natural gas transaction range [4,620-4,890], average hydrogen cost [2.21 yuan/m³] III. Propane-to-Hydrogen South China propylene oxide transaction range [6,280-6,410], average hydrogen cost [3.62 yuan/m³] east China propylene oxide transaction range [6,390-7,190], average hydrogen cost [3.84 yuan/m³] Northeast China propylene oxide transaction range [6,170-6,720], average hydrogen cost [3.67 yuan/m³] Shandong propylene oxide transaction range [6,790-7,220], average hydrogen cost [3.97 yuan/m³] IV. Hydrogen Production from Methanol Methanol transaction range in east China [2,430-2,740], average hydrogen cost [2.32 yuan/m³] Methanol transaction range in central China [2,300-2,720], average hydrogen cost [2.3 yuan/m³] Methanol transaction range in north China [2,080-2,680], average hydrogen cost [2.15 yuan/m³] Methanol transaction range in south China [2,530-2,590], average hydrogen cost [2.29 yuan/m³] Methanol transaction range in northwest China [2,120-2,370], average hydrogen cost [2.04 yuan/m³] Methanol transaction range in southwest China [2,240-2,800], average hydrogen cost [2.31 yuan/m³] Methanol transaction range in northeast China [2,630-2,650], average hydrogen cost [2.35 yuan/m³]

This week，the solid-state battery industry showed a dual-engine momentum driven by "intensive breakthroughs on the technology front and targeted solutions on the policy front." CATL disclosed a sulphide patent, Zhongkeyuanben's 20Ah all-solid-state battery passed third-party detection, and Dreame Technology released a 450Wh/kg product; Guangdong took the lead in incorporating diversified solid-state battery technology routes and eVTOL scenarios into provincial-level action plans.

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Rare Earth Prices Pulled Back, Strong Wait-and-See Sentiment Downstream] Affected by news-related factors, the Pr-Nd oxide market saw heightened wait-and-see sentiment among downstream metal plants, and some traders proactively cut prices to boost shipments. As of today, Pr-Nd oxide prices had pulled back to 845,000-850,000 yuan/mt.

Brazil Rare Earths (BRE) has intersected ore bodies with total rare earth oxide (TREO) grades as high as 35.3% during step-out drilling at the Alto Hill deposit in the Rocha Project. At a depth of 115 meters, a 28-meter intersection graded 19.4%. Key elements included praseodymium-neodymium oxide at 5.96% and heavy rare earth dysprosium-terbium oxide at 0.305%, accompanied by high-value minerals such as niobium (1.7%) and scandium. Drilling has extended the ore body along strike to 1.2 kilometers and identified parallel ore bodies, indicating the area is becoming a world-class rare earth cluster. The company holds an inferred resource of 25.2 million mt (TREO grade 1%). Its low-temperature acid treatment process achieves a rare earth recovery rate of 97%.

The market quotation for praseodymium-neodymium oxide is in the range of 880,000 - 890,000 yuan/tonne, representing an increase of approximately 35,000 yuan/tonne compared to pre-holiday levels, a rise exceeding 4.12%. This marks a staggering 98% increase year-on-year. The quotation for praseodymium-neodymium metal stands at 1.07 - 1.08 million yuan/tonne, up by 50,000 yuan/tonne (4.88%) from pre-holiday prices, also reflecting a 95% year-on-year increase.