Trade alert

  • Float glass: South Korea continues to levy anti-dumping duties. Recently, according to Order No. 913 of the Ministry of Planning and Finance of South Korea, South Korea continued to levy anti-dumping duties of 36.01% on float glass originating in China. The measures will take effect from August 31, 2021 and will be valid for five years.

Trade

  • Myanmar: 3 aquatic product manufacturers have suspended exports to China. On April 12, the General Administration of Customs of China announced that it will suspend the acceptance of product import declarations from three aquatic product enterprises including Myint Myat Hein Co., Ltd. , for a period of 1 to 2 weeks.
  • Philippines: Plan to import 350,000 tons of sugar. According to a recent report by the Philippine “Business Mirror”, the Philippines is considering importing 350,000 tons of sugar to fill the local supply shortage and prevent prices from soaring.
  • Shanghai blockade affects world container yard capacity. A few days ago, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and ONE warned their customers that the Shanghai lockdown, warehouse closures and a severe shortage of trucking capacity are affecting the yard capacity of the world’s largest container, especially refrigerated cargo, which will be transfer to other ports.

Industry

  • Global PC shipments decreased by 5.1% year-on-year. International data research company IDC released that in the first quarter, the global shipment of traditional PCs reached 80.5 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 5.1%. Among them, Lenovo topped the list with a market share of 22.7%, followed by HP, Dell and Apple.
  • Canalys: TWS shipments in 2021 will reach 290 million units, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%. Among them, Apple ranked first in the world with nearly 93 million TWS shipments. Due to the delayed release of the third-generation AirPods, its market share dropped to 32%, down 7% year-on-year.
  • Samsung’s annual shipments reached 28 million units, an increase of 19% year-on-year, ranking second and maintaining a market share of 9.6%.
  • The State Administration for Market Regulation (National Standardization Administration) has approved the mandatory national standard for “electronic cigarettes”, which is hereby issued and will be implemented from October 1, 2022.
  • According to a survey by Fubon Investment Consulting, MediaTek has slightly revised down its forecast for full-year mobile phone chip shipments to 570-600 million units, as domestic mobile phone manufacturers have successively revised down their shipment targets and simultaneously reduced their component orders. In the second half of the year, the agency believes that the visibility of mobile phone orders is very low, and the demand for other consumer electronics such as TVs and Chromebooks is also quite weak.
  • In the global TV market, high-definition “4K” TVs are rapidly gaining popularity. According to a survey by the Japan Electronic Information Technology Industry Association, it is expected that 4K models will account for 71% of overall sales by 2026, an increase of about 10 percentage points year-on-year. It is estimated that global 4K TV sales will account for more than 70% of the overall flat-screen TV sales by 2026.
  • Gartner: In the first quarter, global PC shipments totaled 77.5 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 7.3%. Among them, Lenovo is still the world’s largest PC manufacturer, with Lenovo topping the list with a market share of 22.7%. Lenovo shipped 18.3 million units in the first quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 12.6%; HP was second with 15.9 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 17.8%; Apple Mac global shipments were about 7 million units, an increase of 8.6% year-on-year.

China

  • China National Railway Group: On average, there are about 3,000 passenger trains running on national railways per day, which is less than 30% of the normal level.
  • Shanghai Headquarters of the Central Bank: At the end of March, the balance of local and foreign currency deposits in Shanghai was 17.91 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.6%; At the end of March, RMB personal housing loans increased by 16.3 billion yuan, and RMB personal consumption loans decreased by 17 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 44.7 billion yuan.

Company

  • New fees apply on Amazon’s US and Canada sites.
  • Wish: Merchants can have multiple store accounts.
  • Evergreen Shipping’s revenue reached 170.8 billion, a new high. Evergreen Shipping announced the financial report data. In March this year, its revenue reached NT$58.67 billion (approximately RMB 12.919 billion). 170.816 billion yuan (about 37.613 billion yuan), an annual increase of 89.9%.
  • China Mobile: On April 12, it launched a new 5G call, which defines the call products in the 5G era. 5G new calls have four advantages: ultra-low latency, ultra-clear picture quality, no traffic, and one-click video. During the commercial trial period, 5G video calls will be billed according to the length of time, and there will be no data charges. Starting from May 1, the number of voice minutes in the 5G package will be upgraded to the number of minutes that can be used for new 5G calls.
  • Great Wall Motor: Its Wei brand issued a price increase statement on April 12, saying that due to comprehensive factors such as the sharp rise in the prices of raw materials, chips and core components, Wei brand will adjust the official price guide for some models in the coffee series. The increase of 5,000-12,000 yuan will take effect at 0:00 on April 15.
  • Qiya Group: recently announced the environmental impact assessment information announcement of its affiliated company with an annual output of 200,000 tons of high-purity crystalline silicon projects. The project is located in the Xinjiang Zhundong Economic and Technological Development Zone. The first phase and the second phase respectively build a high-purity crystalline silicon production line with an annual output of 100,000 tons. Qiya Group is located in Sichuan and was established in 1989. Its main business is carbon, power generation, etc., and it ranks among the top 10 in the national aluminum industry. Since the beginning of this year, the high profit temptation of the polysilicon segment has attracted many cross-border players to invest heavily.

World

  • Bangladesh: Approval for the construction of the Comilla Economic Zone. Recently, the Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority granted a license to the Comilla Economic Zone Authority to approve the construction of the Comilla Economic Zone. At least half of the land in the economic zone will be allocated to foreign investors.
  • United Arab Emirates: Establishment of the Digital Economy Council. On April 11, the UAE Cabinet meeting adopted the UAE Digital Economy Strategy, planning to increase the proportion of the digital economy in the UAE’s non-oil GDP to 20% in the next few years, and to set up a special digital economy committee.
  • The global manufacturing index reached 54.1%, and the growth rate slowed down. According to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, the global manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) in March 2022 was 54.1%, a year-on-year decrease of 3.7 percentage points. Among them, the European manufacturing PMI was 55.3%, and the American manufacturing PMI was 56.6%.
  • United States: In March, the unseasonably adjusted CPI rose 8.5% year-on-year, hitting a new high in 40 years; it rose 1.2% month-on-month, hitting a new high since October 2005. At least six Wall Street banks said that the U.S. CPI after the seasonal adjustment in March was the peak of this wave of inflation, and that inflation will fall to 7.6% in the second quarter and 5.7% by the end of the year.
  • Italian inflation continued to rise to 6.7%. Recently, the Italian National Statistics Office released that the country’s inflation rate reached 6.7%, rising for nine consecutive months, the highest level since July 1991.
  • UK: Britons will face the biggest drop in living standards since comparable records began in the 1950s, according to a report by the Centre for Economic and Business Research. In the next few months, the energy crisis will generally reduce the income of British people.
  • Germany: Inflation rose to 7.3% in March, the highest level since 1990, the Federal Statistical Office reported. Between March 2021 and March 2022, the total price of German goods increased by 12.3%. Among them, the increase in energy products was particularly obvious, up 39.5% year-on-year. Light heating oil prices rose 144.0%, fuel prices rose 47.4%, and natural gas prices rose 41.8%.
  • The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam wants to increase the domestic air ticket price cap by 3.75% due to the increase in fuel costs.
  • The Ministry of Coal India: It is expected that the coal production of self-owned coal mines will increase significantly to more than 140 million tons in fiscal year 2022-2023, a year-on-year increase of 65%. This will greatly reduce the import of thermal coal in India and save a lot of foreign exchange. The number of coal blocks approved for mining this financial year will increase to 60 with a peak production capacity of 230 million tonnes.