CHUANGXIN IND (02788) saw its shares rise more than 7%. At the time of writing, the stock was up 7.03%, trading at HK$25.28 with a turnover of HK$520 million. The increase follows an announcement by the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges that the list of securities eligible for the Southbound Stock Connect program has been adjusted, with the changes taking effect from March 9. CHUANGXIN IND has been included in the updated list.

Notably, recent tensions in the Middle East have led to production cuts in the aluminum sector. Bahrain's aluminum producer previously declared force majeure, halting shipments despite ongoing production. Separately, Norwegian energy firm Hydro announced that Qatar Aluminum, a joint venture in which Hydro holds a stake, has begun an orderly shutdown of its production lines due to natural gas shortages in Qatar.

Guosen Securities previously highlighted that the company has successfully established an aluminum industry chain project in Saudi Arabia, leveraging its strengths in downstream processing. The first phase of the project, with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons of aluminum, is expected to commence operations around 2027. Electricity costs for energy-intensive industries in Saudi Arabia are low, at just 3.2 US cents per kilowatt-hour, comparable to the cost of self-supplied coal power in China's Xinjiang region. This gives the aluminum project a significant cost advantage, providing the company with long-term growth potential and making it a rare growth stock within the aluminum industry.