On October 18, the 2024 (6th) Stainless Steel and New Energy Materials Summit Forum and the Autumn Market Exchange Conference for the Sulfur Industry Chain was held in Liyang, Jiangsu. The forum aimed to promote deep integration across the industry chain and provide more market opportunities, jointly advancing the high-quality development of the relevant industries. The event was co-hosted by Wuxi Unilink E-commerce Co., Ltd., Unilink Commodities Trading Platform DMCC, and the China Sulfuric Acid Industry Association. It featured three sub-forums focused on the 'stainless steel industry, new energy industry, and sulfur-phosphorus industry.' Over 400 guests attended, including representatives from domestic and international research institutes, industry associations, and production enterprises related to stainless steel, new energy, and other sectors.

At the opening ceremony, Fang Xuejun, Deputy Mayor of Liyang, Jiangsu, delivered a welcome speech, followed by speeches from Stefan Yu, Chairman of Unilink Enterprise Group; Zhang Zhifang, Executive President of the Stainless Steel Branch of the China Iron and Steel Association; Huang Tao, General Manager of the Marketing Center at Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel; Qian Haidong, General Manager of the Business Center at Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt; Huang Yunyue, Chairman of Daqian Cobalt; and Li Chong, Secretary-General of the China Sulfuric Acid Industry Association.

Stefan Yu shared that as a specialized commodity supply chain service enterprise, Unilink has officially launched both the UNILINK DMCC platform, the world's first international commodity trading platform using RMB for settlement, built in Dubai, and the China-Malaysia cross-border e-commerce platform, co-invested with Guangxi China-Malaysia Investment and Holding Group. By developing dual platforms domestically and internationally, with the international platform featuring RMB settlement, Unilink aims to promote RMB internationalization, compete for global pricing power in new energy materials, and enhance the resilience and security of the industry and supply chain.

Zhang Zhifang introduced China as the world's largest stainless steel producer and consumer, consistently accounting for over 55% of global stainless steel output, driving the industry's development worldwide. As a functional material, stainless steel meets demands for high-quality, high-performance materials, with increasingly diverse downstream applications, offering vast development potential. In the future, the industry will accelerate innovation and transformation in stainless steel materials, creating new growth opportunities and strengthening new driving forces to shape new competitive advantages, fostering high-quality development in the sector.

In his remarks, Li Chong noted that in 2024, with the ongoing 'Russia-Ukraine conflict' and escalating Middle East tensions, the global economy remains sluggish, increasing risks of recession. Despite the turbulent macroeconomic situation in the first three quarters, the sulfuric acid industry remained relatively stable. As of now, the production of key downstream products such as phosphate fertilizers, titanium dioxide, and caprolactam has increased by 12.6%, 19.6%, and 25.7%, respectively, showing impressive growth. Other downstream sectors, however, performed moderately. In the fourth quarter, the sulfuric acid industry will witness significant new production capacity, leading to changes in the market's supply-demand dynamics.