2025-04-27 03:56Investment Rating - Industry View for China Materials is rated as Attractive [6] - Industry View for China Cement is rated as In-Line [6] - Industry View for China Coal is rated as Cautious [9] Core Insights - The Trump administration has initiated a tariff probe on all US critical mineral imports, which may impact supply chains and pricing in the sector [6][20] - Baosteel is continuing its industry consolidation efforts, investing Rmb9 billion to acquire a 49% stake in Magang Limited [3][6] - Base metals have shown price increases, with Shanghai copper prices up 2.5% week-over-week (WoW) and aluminum prices up 1.3% WoW, while inventories for both metals have decreased [6][10] - Battery metals are under pressure, with prices for lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate declining slightly, and stockpiling expected to continue [2][20] - Gold prices have increased by 2.8% WoW, attributed to Zijin Mining's acquisition of the Akyem Gold Project in Ghana, which has significant production potential [3][34] Summary by Sections Base Metals - Shanghai copper prices increased by 2.5% WoW to Rmb76,380/t, with inventories down 6.2% [10] - Shanghai aluminum prices rose by 1.3% WoW to Rmb19,830/t, with inventories down 7.4% [10] Battery Metals - Domestic industrial-grade lithium hydroxide prices decreased by 0.3% WoW to Rmb62,750/t, while battery-grade prices also fell by 0.3% to Rmb68,830/t [2][10] - Industrial-grade lithium carbonate prices dropped by 0.2% WoW to Rmb69,650/t, and battery-grade prices fell by 0.4% to Rmb71,450/t [2][10] - Mysteel anticipates continued stockpiling of lithium carbonate in April, with prices under pressure due to flat demand [20] Gold - Gold prices rose by 2.8% WoW to US$3,327/oz, following Zijin Mining's acquisition of the Akyem Gold Project [3][34] Steel - Shanghai HRC prices decreased by 1.8% WoW to Rmb3,220/t, while CRC prices fell by 1.3% to Rmb3,961/t [10] - Long steel inventories decreased by 6.4% WoW, while flat steel inventories fell by 2.0% WoW [10] Cement - Cement prices decreased by 0.7% WoW to Rmb389/t [4][10] Coal - Coal prices remained flat WoW at Rmb678/t, with Qinhuangdao inventory increasing by 11.2% to 6.85 million tons [4][10] - The NDRC has issued a plan to upgrade coal-fired power plants from 2025 to 2027 [28][29]