Since entering March, international energy prices have continued to rise, with oil prices remaining on an upward trend after breaking through $110, and the gasoline price in the United States has reached its highest level in 14 years, surpassing $7 per gallon. In addition, gold prices have also shown an upward trend, with the price of gold breaking through $2,000 on March 8th, and natural gas prices have also seen a significant increase.

However, the rise in oil, natural gas, and gold prices pales in comparison to that of nickel. On March 7th, LME nickel prices soared by 90%, breaking through $50,000 per ton. What followed was astonishing; starting on the 8th, nickel prices continued to surge, increasing by 110%, with international nickel prices climbing all the way to $70,000, $80,000, and ultimately breaking through the $100,000 milestone.

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The international nickel price set consecutive historical highs in a single day, a growth rate that, while not "unprecedented and unrivaled," is nonetheless an extremely rare occurrence.

The surge in international nickel prices has significantly deviated from the fundamentals, causing a substantial impact on related downstream enterprises. Among them, Tsingshan Holding, a major private enterprise in China, holds a significant number of short positions in nickel and has been cornered by the international energy trading giant Glencore. There are reports that Glencore's cornering at this time could result in Tsingshan Holding facing billions of dollars in massive losses, but the final losses are still uncertain.

So, just how strong is Tsingshan Holding and can it withstand the pressure? It is understood that Tsingshan Holding was established in the 1980s, with its headquarters located in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, and is a relatively powerful private enterprise in Zhejiang. It ranks 14th on the list of China's top 500 private enterprises and is the fourth-largest private enterprise in Zhejiang Province, with an annual revenue scale close to 300 billion yuan.

Tsingshan Holding's path to prosperity was not very smooth. Initially, in order to enter the steel industry, the founder led technicians to Taiyuan Iron and Steel multiple times to learn and seek advice. After much negotiation, they finally invited technical experts, and Tsingshan Holding was able to establish its first steel production line. Subsequently, the scale continued to expand, with steel factories invested and built in multiple provinces.

With the accumulation of technology and expansion of production capacity, Tsingshan Holding has carved out a path in the stainless steel industry, with its production capacity reaching a leading level in China. However, it later encountered the 2008 global financial crisis, where the demand for steel was severely excessive, and prices continued to fall, leading to the bankruptcy and closure of many steel factories. Tsingshan Holding survived by improving its technical means.

At the same time, Tsingshan Holding made a life-changing decision to enter the upstream industry of stainless steel—nickel mining, and nickel is an important raw material for producing stainless steel. Subsequently, Tsingshan Holding successfully acquired the mining rights to a large nickel mine in Indonesia. It was this decision that made Tsingshan Holding the world's largest nickel mine producer, accounting for about 10% of the global nickel production.

After firmly grasping the upstream raw materials, Tsingshan Holding's stainless steel production also achieved a significant increase. Currently, China's stainless steel production accounts for more than 60% of the global total, and Tsingshan Holding's annual output accounts for more than 30% of China's total, making it the largest stainless steel production enterprise in China.

In terms of revenue scale, Tsingshan Holding has surpassed Shagang Group to become China's largest private steel enterprise group. After its own full industrial chain layout, Tsingshan Holding's development momentum is thriving. It is important to note that nickel is also an important raw material for new energy vehicle batteries, and the world's largest battery supplier, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL), is one of Tsingshan Holding's major customers.New energy vehicles are the inevitable trend of the future. Qingshan Holdings has mastered the production and supply of key raw materials for lithium batteries, which is enough to catch up with this wave of the era and is also a wave of wealth creation, with a widely optimistic outlook. Originally, it could continue to make a fortune quietly, but now such a situation has occurred. As a large private enterprise in our country, it is still hoped to overcome the difficulties.