"Big Banks" JP Morgan continues to be optimistic about copper and gold, Zijin Mining remains the top choice

JP Morgan published a research report indicating that the preference order for the materials sector in 2026 is: Copper/Gold > Aluminum > Lithium > Coal > Steel; driven by supply disruptions or tight supply, as well as further merger and acquisition activities, it is expected that the MSCI China Materials Index will continue to outperform the MSCI China Index this year.

Based on JP Morgan's positive outlook on copper, it has upgraded Jiangxi Copper Company (00358.HK) to "Neutral"; it also believes that Chinese policies remain the main driver of commodity prices, but starting from the fourth quarter of 2025, the subsequent implementation and intensity of the "anti-involution" policy will be milder than expected. Reducing excess capacity is a multi-year effort, and without more significant production cuts, steel profit margins are expected to remain low. Therefore, it has downgraded Baosteel (600019.SH) to "Neutral" and Ansteel (00347.HK) to "Reduce."

Zijin Mining (02899.HK) remains JP Morgan's top pick this year, with continued optimism for CMOC (03993.HK), Aluminum Corporation of China (02600.HK), and China Hongqiao (01378.HK). For JP Morgan's ratings and target prices on mainland materials sector stocks, please refer to another table