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Yongzhen Co. announced that it plans to invest 597 million yuan through its wholly owned subsidiary Yongzhen Technology Wuhu Co., Ltd. to build a project with an annual capacity of 60,000 tonnes of finished battery aluminum foil. The project will be implemented by upgrading the existing plant in Wuhu, with no need for additional land reserves. Its products will focus on ultra-thin categories of 10 microns and below, suitable for applications such as power batteries, energy storage batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and consumer electronics batteries. Qiu Chenyang, a researcher at China Research Puhua, told China Business Journal that after the project is launched, it will help Yongzhen Co. extend from photovoltaic aluminum profile processing to high-end aluminum processing for new energy, offsetting the operating pressure brought by cyclical fluctuations in the photovoltaic industry. Financial report data show that Yongzhen Co.'s net profit attributable to the parent company in 2024 was 268 million yuan. In 2025, revenue grew 30.99 percent year on year, but net profit attributable to the parent company recorded a loss of 221 million yuan. In the first half of 2026, revenue was 4.55 billion yuan, down 20.13 percent year on year, while net profit attributable to the parent company was 39.5835 million yuan, down 23.34 percent year on year, and non-recurring net profit was 5.0773 million yuan, down 91.49 percent year on year. Qiu Chenyang also pointed out that Yongzhen Co. has long focused on aluminum extrusion profile business and has no experience in large-scale mass production of ultra-thin battery aluminum foil. There is uncertainty in production yield ramp-up and process optimization progress, and the company has not yet built market reputation or brand influence in the battery aluminum foil sector. Securing orders from key large customers requires long-term accumulation. In addition, the 60,000-tonne capacity is relatively small compared with leading industry players, making it difficult to achieve economies of scale in procurement, production, and operations in the short term, and there is still room to improve cost control capabilities. At the industry level, China Securities Co., Ltd. expects effective battery aluminum foil capacity to reach 1.16 million tonnes and 1.41 million tonnes in 2026 and 2027 respectively. Wang Zheng, a senior researcher at Xinluo Information, said that overall supply and demand in the market will be tight in 2026 and processing fees have already shown an upward trend. However, companies including Dingsheng New Materials, Lidao New Materials, Zhongfu Industry, and Shenhuo Co. have successively announced capacity expansions, and competition is becoming increasingly intense.

Steel Dynamics, Inc. issued third-quarter 2026 earnings guidance projecting diluted earnings per share between US$5.34 and US$5.38, driven by higher steel margins, record shipments, and improving contributions from its aluminum flat-rolled mill. The company also pointed to operational momentum across steel, fabrication, and aluminum, supported by a strong fabrication backlog, progress in new aluminum operations, and ongoing share repurchases. Its aluminum flat-rolled operations are expected to contribute meaningfully better earnings this quarter as shipments increase and commissioning of the new mill progresses. Steel Dynamics' narrative projects $24.8 billion in revenue and $3.2 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 9.3% yearly revenue growth and a roughly $1.8 billion earnings increase from $1.4 billion today, while the most optimistic analysts have modeled about US$3.8 billion in earnings by 2029. The company's forecasts yield a $272.09 fair value, a 16% upside to its current price.