Trade

  • Suez Canal toll rise again. The new round of pricing will take effect from May 1. On March 1, the authority had raised tolls for some ships. Among them, the tolls of liquefied petroleum gas carriers, chemical carriers and other tankers will be increased by 10%; 7% increase in tolls for vehicles and gas carriers, general cargo ships and multi-purpose vessels;Tolls for oil tankers, crude oil tankers and dry bulk carriers are increased by 5%. On February 1, the authority had raised tolls for ships by 6%. So this is the third price increase this year.

Industry

  • The trend in Europe to avoid buying Russian-made urea has expanded, and demand is shifting to Asian-made urea. In the past month, the Asian price of urea has risen by 60%, reaching about US$1,000 per ton, nearly three times that of the same period last year. In addition, the price increase of urea is still affecting other fertilizer raw materials, and the international price of ammonium sulfate has also risen by 60% compared with the end of February.
  • Some U.S. shale producers have failed to ramp up output due to steel shortages, among other reasons. The data showed that US oil casings reached $2,400 a ton, double what they were a year ago.
  • In February, the global supply of digital cameras fell by 27% year-on-year to 490,000 units, according to the Japan International Camera and Imaging Equipment Industry Association. The negative impact of the spread of the new crown epidemic and the shortage of chips has further deteriorated. By region, Europe saw a sharp drop of 33%, the Americas by 27% and Japan by 19.5%. China was down 3.1%, the smallest decline.
  • Mafengwo: In China, travel combined with sports has become a popular travel option for young people. The post-90s generation is the most important part of sports travel, accounting for 55.6%, and the post-80s generation accounts for 34.8%. Driven by the Winter Olympics, sports tourism in the Zhangjiakou area in the south of Beijing will increase in popularity in 2021. The related tourism content in the Beijing area will increase by 145% year-on-year, and the Zhangjiakou area will increase by 600% year-on-year.

China

  • The National Health Insurance Bureau: The government-guided price of nucleic acid testing for the new coronavirus in public medical institutions has been lowered. All provinces should reduce the single-person inspection to no more than 28 yuan per person; multi-person mixed inspections will be reduced to no more than 8 yuan per person.
  • Medical Insurance Bureau: China has vaccinated 3.2 billion doses of vaccines, and the cost of vaccines is more than 120 billion yuan, which is shared by the medical insurance fund and the government. The cost of vaccines is within the affordable range of the medical insurance fund.
  • The Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission released a survey report on beverage consumption of Generation Z, which pointed out that the frequency of beverage consumption of Generation Z is relatively high. Buy 1 drink. Women’s demand for milk tea, coffee, and sparkling water is higher than that of men, while men prefer carbonated drinks and functional drinks. In terms of brand choice, the choices of Gen Z are more diversified. Over half of Gen Z preferred domestic brands, and over 40% preferred “0 sugar” for health care.

Company

  • Mercedes-Benz: On April 2, the entire range of models ushered in a price increase, the second time this year. This price increase is due to the continuous increase in logistics costs and input costs, which have put enormous pressure on the overall cost.

World

  • Japan: Affected by factors such as the new crown epidemic and the rising international oil prices, the Japanese taxi industry has been hit hard, and many companies have fallen into operational difficulties. As of the end of March, 90% of the taxi companies have applied to the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to increase the charging standard. Some taxi companies hope to adjust the starting price to 500 yen, which is about 26 yuan. There are also companies that advocate shortening the starting price mileage and increasing the unit price per kilometer.
  • Sri Lanka: Currently facing problems such as lack of foreign exchange and material shortage, it is experiencing the largest power outage in recent years. Following the 10-hour power outage on March 30, the power outage was continued for 13 hours and 12 hours on March 31 and April 1.