Trade alert

  • Saccharin: India launches anti-circumvention investigation. Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India announced that it has launched an anti-circumvention investigation on saccharin originating in or imported from China to examine whether the products involved are imported into India through Thailand to avoid countervailing duties.

Trade

  • Pakistan: 3 aquatic product manufacturers have suspended exports to China. On March 23, the General Administration of Customs of China said that from now on, it will suspend the acceptance of Pakistan M/s. J & D FOODS ENTERPRISES., M/s. Hamna Fisheries product import declarations for one week, and continue to suspend the acceptance of M/s. Super Star Enterprises product import declaration for 1 week.
  • Egypt: Allows commercial banks to set their own foreign exchange rates and allows the Egyptian pound to depreciate against the US dollar.
  • Brazil: Significantly reduced import tax rates for some goods. The Foreign Trade Bureau of the Ministry of Economy of Brazil announced on March 22 that the import tax on seven categories of commodities including ethanol, margarine and sugar will be reduced to zero from the 23rd, valid until December 31; Import tax rate for equipment products.

Industry

  • International Semiconductor Industry Association: In 2022, the total global front-end fab equipment spending will reach US$107 billion, breaking the US$100 billion mark for the first time. Taiwan ranks first, with fab equipment spending reaching $35 billion in 2022, an annual increase of 56%; South Korea ranks second with a total of $26 billion, an annual increase of 9%; mainland China ranks third, with a total of approximately $17.5 billion, down 30% from last year’s peak.
  • CITIC Securities: It is predicted that in 2022, the amount of aluminum used in China’s photovoltaic industry will reach 3.14 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 16%. By 2025, the total amount of aluminum used in China’s newly installed photovoltaic capacity and photovoltaic module production will reach 4.89 million tons.
  • United States: Cotton prices surge to 10-year highs.

China

  • Central Bank: In February, the bond market issued a total of 4.43 trillion yuan of bonds; the inter-bank money market turnover totaled 88.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 45.9% year-on-year and a month-on-month decrease of 20.5%; the inter-bank bond market spot bond turnover was 17.3 trillion yuan, A year-on-year increase of 69.0% and a month-on-month increase of 8.8%.
  • State Food and Drug Administration: On March 23, 2 new coronavirus antigen detection reagent products were approved. As of March 23, 19 new coronavirus antigen detection reagent products have been approved.
  • China Performance Industry Association: From mid-February to mid-March, more than 4,000 performances were cancelled or postponed, and about 80% of the performances will be suspended or postponed in late March. It is estimated that by the end of March, about 9,000 shows will be cancelled or postponed nationwide. It is expected that the number of performances in the first quarter will decrease by more than 25% year-on-year, and the box office revenue will decrease by more than 35%.

Company

  • Tencent Holdings: In 2021, operating income will be 560.118 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16%; net profit will be 224.82 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41%. Game revenue in the local market increased by 6% to 128.8 billion yuan. Social network revenue rose 8 percent to 117.3 billion yuan. Revenue from financial technology and corporate services business increased by 34% year-on-year to 172.2 billion yuan. To B business surpassed the game sector for the first time and became the largest source of income. In the fourth quarter, the total playing time of minors decreased by 88% year-on-year, accounting for 0.9% of the total playing time in the local market. At the end of 2021, the combined monthly active users of WeChat and WeChat reached 1.268 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.5%.
  • Geely Auto: In 2021, the revenue will be 101.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%; the net profit will be 4.35 billion yuan; the total cash will reach 28 billion yuan, a record high. The total sales volume for the year reached 1.328 million; the sales volume of new energy and electrification exceeded 100,000, of which the geometric growth reached 145.3%, and the market share in the A-class pure electric market reached 7.43%
  • Jinlongyu: In 2021, the operating income will be 226.225 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.06%; the net profit will be 4.132 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 31.15%.
  • Xiping Media: Announced the completion of the B round of financing, the investor is Alibaba. This financing will be mainly used for large-scale investment promotion in the later stage. The company focuses on community elevator advertising. At present, it has a community advertising network composed of more than 400 district and county service providers. In 2022, the advertising community network service plan will exceed 1,000 districts and counties.
  • One Auto/Li Auto (理想汽车): Affected by the continuous sharp rise in upstream raw materials, starting from April 1, 2022, Li Auto will adjust the price of Ideal ONE, and the national unified retail price will be raised from the current 338,000 yuan to 349,800 yuan. It will take effect from 00:00 on April 1, 2022.

World

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided that the supply of natural gas to European countries will be settled in rubles.
  • So far in 2020, U.S. diesel prices have risen from $2.40 a gallon to $4. High oil prices have pushed up the cost of fishing. Prices of fish and seafood rose 1.3 percent in January, and are expected to average between 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent by the end of the year.
  • South Korea: In 2021, foreign direct investment will hit a record high of US$75.87 billion, a year-on-year increase of 32.8%; during the same period, direct investment in the United States has surged by 81.8% year-on-year.