Industry

  • Apple’s supply chain has been hit hard by the coronavirus lockdown in China, and it’s getting worse. Apple’s shutdown at three major suppliers has affected assembly of iPhones, iPads and Macs, leading to significant delays in ship-to-order MacBook Pro models. In a worst-case scenario, iPhone production could drop by as much as 10 million units. (PS, Apple’s parts factories in Shanghai and Kunshan have not resumed production)
  • Natural Gas: Natural gas prices have been rising this year. On April 15, the US natural gas futures price hit a high of US$7.548 per million British thermal units, setting a new historical record since 2008, with a cumulative increase of 111.42%.

Industry China

  • Since March, the domestic movie box office has fallen into a trough, and the single-digit ticket sales of many movie theaters are only single digits, and many theaters are forced to close every day.

China

  • Health and Health Commission: As of April 16, China’s nucleic acid detection capacity has reached 51.65 million tubes per day, and results are generally available within 6 hours across the country. Since the outbreak, about 11.5 billion tests have been completed. China is the only country that can perform large-scale population screening to find the source of infection.
  • Suzhou: Since April 16, the epidemic prevention and control measures have been further upgraded in Wujiang District, Wuzhong District, Xiangcheng District, Gusu District, Suzhou Industrial Park and Huqiu District (Suzhou High-tech Zone). Non-essential non-flow, comprehensively strengthen social control, cancel all kinds of public gathering activities and dine-in. Cinemas, chess and card rooms, gyms and other closed places continue to be closed. All residential quarters, urban villages, and dormitories are subject to closed management.
  • Jilin Province: The Hongqi Weishan factory has taken the lead in resuming work and production, and 47 of the first batch of suppliers have also resumed production simultaneously. Other OEMs have made preparations for resumption of work in advance and will resume production in batches and in an orderly manner. As of April 14, only 8 of the province’s 50 key large-scale enterprises have stopped production, and nearly 80,000 employees have returned to work.
  • Ministry of Water Resources: According to preliminary forecasts, China’s meteorological and hydrological years are generally deviated this year, and there is a greater possibility of floods in the north and south. The safety of the reservoir during the flood season is still facing a major test this year. It is expected that during the flood season this year, the flood situation in the Pearl River Basin may be severe, and the flood control situation is not optimistic. All localities and departments should speed up the reinforcement of dangerous reservoirs, take every possible measure to solve the problem of insufficient flood discharge capacity of reservoirs, and resolutely prevent the occurrence of dam collapse accidents.
  • In the past five years, the median price increase and decrease in second-hand housing in 70 large and medium-sized cities was about 19%, with an average annual increase of about 4%, outperforming the bank’s one-year deposit rate. In the past five years, second-hand housing prices in Mudanjiang, Zhengzhou, Shijiazhuang and Tianjin have fallen.
  • Kunming : Reduce the down payment ratio for the purchase of a second set of housing.

World

  • United States: In March, the U.S. saw below-average precipitation for the third straight month. The Rio Grande River, the main source of domestic and agricultural water in the western United States, is running low and experiencing record drought; local farmers are encouraged to fallow crops in some areas and water is appropriately subsidized. Experts predict that the river may start to dry up in late August or early September, but the situation will ease if the summer monsoon forms.
  • The U.S. government has announced the end of a 15-month ban on leases and the resumption of lease sales for oil and gas drilling on federal lands. About 582 square kilometers of land will be made available for oil and gas drilling leases, an 80% reduction in land area compared to the previous size. In addition, mining companies will also be required to pay royalties of 18.75% of the mining value, up from 12.5% ​​previously.
  • United Nations World Food Program: Somalia imports 85% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine. However, affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the price of wheat in Somalia has risen by 160% in just one month. In addition, the lack of rainfall in the local rainy season led to severe crop failures. Food shortages and soaring food prices have left nearly 40 percent of Somalis on the brink of starvation.
  • South Korea: In 2021, 47.8% of the total number of “involuntary resigners” in South Korea who had to leave their jobs due to company closures and layoffs, or 1.577 million, increased by 25.4% from 2016. In terms of hires, manufacturing employment decreased by 216,000, or 4.7%, compared with 2016, and the employment stability of jobs in this field is poor.
  • Japan: Japan’s population dynamics show significant differences between men and women. In 2021, Tokyo will see a net inflow of 5,433 people, of which 1,344 are male and 6,777 are female.