On April 22, the first quarter economic operation analysis symposium of key enterprises in the nonferrous industry was held at the headquarters of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.

Zuo Zheng, an official of the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that an implementation plan to promote the development of the lithium resource industry has been released. The general requirements are to work on four areas in terms of resources, including promoting more development, stable imports, reduction, and recycling; an implementation plan for the development of copper, aluminum and other resource industries will be released this year, and he hopes that enterprises will give positive feedback on relevant opinions and suggestions.

CITIC Construction Investment pointed out that the supply of raw materials for antimony concentrate continues to be tight, and the operating level of antimony ingot/antimony oxide manufacturers is not high.

On the demand side, demand for photovoltaic glass continues to rise, demand for flame retardants is expected to rise in popularity against the backdrop of electronic cycle recovery, and antimony prices are expected to continue to rise.

Since April, the domestic volume of ferromolybdenum steel has been about 1,1800 tons.

Downstream steel mills concentrated on entering and preparing stocks before the holiday season, which fully reflects the low inventory volume and strong demand performance of downstream steel mills; supply rigidity and strong consumption, and molybdenum prices are expected to perform well in May.

Pressure on the supply side of tungsten concentrate is high. In the later stages, along with the increase in demand for hard alloys brought about by the upgrading and transformation of the manufacturing industry, the tungsten industry chain is expected to rise further, leading to a simultaneous rise from the downstream demand side to upstream mines.

CITIC Securities released a research report saying that copper prices have risen rapidly recently, and supply shortages combined with the main “secondary inflation” trading line in the US are still the core factors dominating the rise in copper prices. The current high copper price boom is not over yet. However, we should be wary of the “final drop” in copper prices in the second half of the year, which may show a trend of rising and falling throughout the year.

From a medium-term perspective, overseas markets are currently still in the early verification stage of active inventory replenishment. The commodity market trend is still too early. The transmission from the Fed's interest rate cut to the upward trend in overseas economies will still take time and patience. Combined with the current short-term disturbances, we need to be wary of the “final drop” in copper prices in the second half of the year, which may rise and fall throughout the year.

Non-ferrous metal copper mine-related enterprises:

Luoyang Molybdenum Industry (03993): The two world-class copper-cobalt mines TFM and KFM under Luoyang Molybdenum have all been put into operation. Among them, TFM has an annual copper production capacity of 450,000 tons, and KFM has an annual copper production capacity of more than 90,000 tons. Meanwhile, KFM produced more than 14,000 tons of copper in January of this year, and more than 15,000 tons of copper in February, setting a historical record. Judging from actual data and annual production capacity, KFM is currently in a “overproduction” rhythm. It is worth noting that Luoyang Molybdenum Industry also clearly stated that it will step up geological exploration work, launch a storage increase plan, and prepare for the development of TFM Phase III and KFM Phase II.

Zijin Mining (02899): Zijin Mining has more than ten copper mines, including the Kamoa Copper Mine in the Congo (Gold) with 44.98% interest, the Tibet Julong Copper Mine with 50.1% interest, the Serbian copper and gold mine with 100% interest, and the Kolwezi copper-cobalt mine with 72% interest.

Minmetals Resources (01208): The acquisition of the Khoemacau copper mine in Botswana, South Africa has been approved by the government. Throughout 2023, MMG's total production of copper (electrolytic copper plus copper concentrate containing copper) was 347,300 tons, and total production of zinc (zinc concentrate containing zinc) was 203,500 tons. Copper production increased 14% in 2023 compared to 2022, mainly due to the uninterrupted operation of the Las Bambas mine.