Trade alert

  • Cribs and Strollers: U.S. Makes Final Part 337 Ruling. The U.S. International Trade Commission recently issued an announcement stating that it has made a final ruling in part 337 on certain children’s beds and strollers (investigation code: 337-TA-1288): the investigation of this case against China Dongguan Jinwang Children’s Products Co., Ltd. will be terminated.
  • New regulations in Port Klang, Malaysia: Containers must be cleared within 3 days. Recently, the Ministry of Transport of Malaysia announced that in order to improve the efficiency of Port Klang and prevent the accumulation of containers and cause port congestion, from May 1, all containers must be cleared within 3 days after entry. He stressed that if a container had to be investigated, the authorities had up to 30 days to complete customs inspections.

Trade

  • Brazil: Announced a reduction in import tariffs on some goods. Recently, the Foreign Trade Commission of the Brazilian Ministry of Economy announced that by the end of this year, import taxes on seven products will be abolished, including: ethanol, coffee, margarine, cheese, pasta, sugar, and soybean oil. In addition, reduce the import tax rate levied on electronic products and mechanical equipment by 10%.
  • Myanmar: Plans to increase RMB settlement efforts. According to Myanmar’s “Golden Phoenix News” report on April 26, Myanmar’s Minister of Commerce U Aung Nai Ou said that cross-border trade between Myanmar and China allows RMB settlement, and plans to allow RMB settlement in China’s investment business and import and export business in the future.
  • Vietnam: On April 26, the Beilun River 2 Bridge Port at the Mong Cai International Port in Quang Ninh Province officially resumed customs clearance.
  • Cambodia: Fruit exports are hampered by rising transportation costs. According to Cambodia’s “Cambodia Daily” report on April 26, the transportation cost of Cambodian fresh fruit exported to China has risen to 8,000 US dollars, and the transportation cost of exports to Europe and the United States has risen to 20,000 US dollars, which has caused the export of fresh fruit this year to be blocked.
  • In the first quarter, trade between Vietnam and Laos increased by 19.2%. A few days ago, statistics from the Commercial Office of the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos showed that in the first quarter of this year, the bilateral trade volume between Vietnam and Laos exceeded US$403 million, a year-on-year increase of 19.2%. Among them, Vietnam’s exports to Laos exceeded US$130 million, down 18% year-on-year; Vietnam’s imports from Laos reached US$272 million, up 52.4% year-on-year.

Industry

  • United Nations Environment Programme: Call on countries around the world to face up to the importance of sand and gravel resources, establish global mining standards, and protect the marine environment. They are not only building materials, but also important climate regulators of nature. Currently, most countries do not have adequate regulatory mechanisms for sand and gravel extraction, application, and resource management, which has led to numerous environmental problems.
  • Australian lithium miner Pilbara: The first lithium concentrate auction in 2022 was held on April 27. The auction price was US$5,650/ton, which was in line with market expectations. The auction totaled 5,000 tons. According to estimates, combined with the freight of 90 US dollars / ton, the cost of lithium carbonate is about 380,000 yuan / ton.
  • Russia: Restrictions on the export of fertilizers are extended until August 31, and the possibility of further extension of restrictions is considered. Putin ordered the removal of import duties on agricultural machinery and accessories that do not have similar products in Russia, including some combine harvesters and gardening machines. In addition, the government allocated 7 billion rubles from the budget for research and development of alternative products for the equipment of the fishing fleet.
  • Russia announced the suspension of gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
  • Statistics Canada: Canola plantings in Canada are expected to fall by 7% this year. Canada is the world’s largest exporter of canola oil.
  • According to eMarketer website data: The global e-commerce market share is released, and China ranks first. The scale of China’s e-commerce market ranks first in the world with 52.1%. This is followed by the United States (19%), the United Kingdom (4.8%), Japan (3%), South Korea (2.5%), Germany (2.1%), France (1.6%), and India (1.4%).

Industry China

  • China Gold Association: In the first quarter, the national gold consumption was 260.26 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 9.69%. Among them, gold jewelry was 168.86 tons, down 0.19% year-on-year; gold bars and coins were 69.62 tons, down 27.71% year-on-year; industrial and other gold was 21.78 tons, down 4.10% year-on-year.
  • White cardboard prices. Recently, many paper companies have issued letters of price increase for white cardboard. Among them, Chenming Paper and Bohui Paper plan to increase the price of their white cardboard products by 200 yuan/ton on the basis of the current selling price from May 1, and other companies also have plans to adjust the price of related products. Cardboard companies raised prices again after a lapse of one month.

China

  • SAFE: In the first quarter, China’s current account registered a surplus of 568.5 billion yuan, including a surplus of 920.5 billion yuan from trade in goods and a deficit of 115.6 billion yuan from trade in services. In the capital and financial accounts, direct investment recorded a surplus of 412.6 billion yuan, and reserve assets increased by 249.8 billion yuan. In March 2022, banks settled 1,637.4 billion yuan in foreign exchange and sold 1,467.6 billion yuan in foreign exchange, with a surplus of 169.9 billion yuan in foreign exchange settlement and sales. From January to March, banks accumulated a surplus of 373.1 billion yuan in foreign exchange settlement and sales.
  • Zhongshan City: Zhongshan Port was added as a drug import port. On April 26, the General Department of the State Food and Drug Administration and the General Office of the General Administration of Customs issued a notice agreeing to add the Zhongshan Port in Zhongshan City as a drug import port.
  • Three departments including the National Development and Reform Commission: By the end of 2022, the nationwide planning and layout will be basically completed, and the construction of national regional medical centers will cover all provinces in the country.
    China Performance Industry Association: The overall economic scale of the performance market in 2021 will be 33.585 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.76% and a year-on-year decrease of 41.31% in 2019. The box office revenue of the performance was 14.028 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 183.11%, and a year-on-year decrease of 30.00% in 2019; the performance derivatives and sponsorship income was 2.206 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 213.80%, and a year-on-year decrease of 40.94% in 2019.
  • Nanjing: It is reported that the conditions for applying for housing purchases by non-resident households in Nanjing have been adjusted. Nanjing real estate transaction management staff said that non-resident households in Nanjing who have paid social security for 6 months in one year can apply for house purchases. The conditions for non-Nanjing resident households to apply for house purchase are upgraded to pay social security or personal tax in Nanjing for 2 consecutive years or more within 3 years, and cannot purchase housing by paying overdue additional personal tax or social security.
  • Huaian, Jiangsu: If the depositor buys the first self-occupied house and applies for a housing provident fund loan for the first time, the minimum down payment ratio is reduced to 20%; if the depositor buys a second self-occupied house or applies for a housing provident fund loan again, the minimum down payment ratio is reduced to 30%. The new policy will take effect from May 5.
  • Jiangmen City: Starting from April 28, consumer coupons with a total value of 37 million yuan will be issued to the first few buyers who purchase new commercial housing in Jiangmen City and go through the online contract signing procedures. This event lasts for two months.
  • Travel data from Ctrip: During the May 1st period, the proportion of rural tour orders increased by 10% compared to the Qingming period; the number of hotel reservations for rural tours increased by 560% compared with Qingming, and 88% of the orders were for stays of 1-2 days. Parent-child families contributed nearly 30% of the country tour hotel orders.

Company

  • Meta: Announced the opening of its first brick-and-mortar retail store. “Metaverse company” Meta Platform announced that it will open on May 9 in Burlingame, California, USA, showcasing VR hardware equipment through retail locations. Visitors can try out and buy Meta’s Portal videophone and Quest VR headset.
  • Huawei: Huawei’s mobile phone supply met difficult last year, and this year’s Huawei mobile phone supply has been greatly improved. Huawei’s mobile phone production capacity has begun to recover, so everyone wants to buy Huawei products, and Huawei mobile phones is in stock. A new generation of folding screen mobile phone Mate Xs 2 will be released. The thickness and weight of the new folding screen are close to ordinary mobile phones.
  • Trump’s social app, Truth Social, rose to No. 1 on Apple’s U.S. App Store free apps list, surpassing Twitter and TikTok.
  • TikTok Store: Launched a commission-free policy in Southeast Asia. TikTok said a few days ago that in order to encourage the first batch of merchants to enter new markets in Southeast Asia, the platform provides a series of support and incentive policies. Newly opened Shikoku stores can enjoy the policy of full exemption of transaction commissions, and merchants in the Thai market are directly exempted from handling fees. In addition, as long as consumers place an order, they have the opportunity to enjoy free postage benefits.
  • Maersk: Strong first-quarter results beat expectations. Maersk recently reported financial results for the first quarter of 2022, with revenue of $19.3 billion, underlying EBITDA of $9.2 billion, and underlying EBIT of $7.9 billion. It predict that this quarter’s performance exceeded expectations due to the continued promotion of abnormal conditions in the shipping market.
  • VISA: Net revenue of $7.2 billion in the second quarter beat expectations. A few days ago, VISA announced its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2022. The company reported net revenue of $7.2 billion, beating estimates of $6.83 billion. In addition, second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.79 per share also beat estimates of $1.65.

World

  • EU: Approved plans to cut energy prices in Spain and Portugal, which will significantly reduce electricity bills by capping the price of natural gas that powers power plants.
  • Russia: Russia’s economy will contract by 8.8 percent in 2022, according to preliminary estimates, the head of the Russian Federal Audit Office said. In the next year and a half or two years, Russia will face a very difficult situation. Inflation in Russia will reach 20.7% in 2022 and over 6% in 2023. Russia will use about 6.3 trillion rubles to support the economy.
  • Panama: The mining industry performed well in fiscal 2021. Panama’s Ministry of Economy and Finance said on April 26 that Panama’s gross domestic product in fiscal 2021 reached $40.7364 billion, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%. Among them, the mining industry contributed the most, accounting for 27.6% of the total annual growth.
  • Brazil: Significant increase in energy budget. On April 26, Brazil’s National Electricity and Energy Agency approved a total budget of 32.096 billion reais for the energy development account in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 34.2%. More than one-third of the account’s income will be used to pay for energy production enterprises.

Covid & Omicron & Vaccine

  • China Bio: After obtaining the clinical approval for the new coronavirus inactivated vaccine of the Omicron variant strain recently, the clinical plan has to be determined after discussions with experts and drug administrations, and it will take about 3-4 months to complete. From the perspective of clinical design, it is not designed according to four injections, but based on the completion of two or three injections of the inactivated vaccine in the early stage, the vaccination research of the Austrian strain vaccine is carried out.
  • British Guardian: the latest report shows that more than half of Americans have signs of having been infected with new coronary pneumonia, and this data also includes 75% of children.

很多时候努力这件事不是我们不知道,而是知道却做不到。