Trade alert

  • Alloy steel bar: Brazil made the final ruling of the first anti-dumping sunset review. Recently, the Management Executive Committee of the Foreign Trade Committee of the Brazilian Ministry of Economy issued a resolution to make the first anti-dumping sunset review final ruling on alloy steel bars originating in China, and decided to continue to levy anti-dumping duties on the products involved in China for a period of 5 years, with a tax amount of 437.09 USD/ton. This case involves products under Mercosur’s tax number 7228.30.00.

Trade

  • India: Lift rice export restrictions. The General Administration of Foreign Trade of India announced on November 29 that it would cancel the export restrictions on some rice such as broken rice in September this year. According to Indian media reports, in the first half of this fiscal year (April-September 2022), India’s rice export value has reached 5.5 billion US dollars, compared with 9.7 billion US dollars for the whole of the previous fiscal year.
  • Russia: The export value of agricultural products this year may reach 40 billion US dollars. Russian Agriculture Minister Patrushev said recently that Russia’s agricultural production is expected to grow by about 3.5% in 2022, and the export value of agricultural products may reach 40 billion US dollars. So far this year, Russia’s agricultural exports have exceeded US$33 billion, maintaining its status as a net grain exporter for the third consecutive year.
  • Cameroon: In 2023, tariffs will be imposed on imported digital terminal equipment such as mobile phones and tablet computers, as well as electronic products such as other tax items. This policy is mainly aimed at mobile phone operators and does not include short-term stay passengers in Cameroon.

Industry China

  • Recently, many cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai ushered in the first snow this winter. According to data from Meituan, on November 30, the takeaway sales of down jackets across the country increased by more than 440% month-on-month, and the sales growth rate in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai was even more significant, with an average growth rate of about 680%. Among them, Shanghai’s growth rate exceeded 10 times, Jiangsu Province’s growth rate exceeded 728%, and Zhejiang Province’s growth rate exceeded 311%.
  • In November, the number of inbound and outbound passengers of domestic airlines exceeded 265,000, a month-on-month increase of about 18%, and a year-on-year increase of nearly 110%. The top 5 most popular inbound routes in November are Seoul-Shanghai, Hong Kong-Shanghai, Taipei-Shanghai, Tokyo-Shanghai, and Hong Kong-Beijing.
  • China Photovoltaic Industry Association: Recently, the price of silicon wafers has dropped, the price of silicon materials has remained stable, and all links in the crystalline silicon industry chain have experienced a comprehensive decline.
  • Macau: In November, gaming revenue was 3 billion patacas, a year-on-year decrease of 56%; from January to November, gaming revenue was 38.7 billion patacas, far lower than the 270 billion patacas in the same period in 2019 before the epidemic.
  • From January to October, China’s newly installed photovoltaic capacity increased by 98.7% year-on-year, setting the highest record for annual newly installed capacity in history. In the first three quarters, the output of the four main links of photovoltaic polysilicon, silicon wafers, cells, and modules all exceeded that of last year, with a year-on-year growth rate of over 40%. The fourth quarter is the peak season for photovoltaic installations, and the “rush installation” is mainly based on ground power stations. Strong market demand drives strong growth on the manufacturing side.
  • Counterpoint Research: In October, Apple’s monthly market share in China reached 25%, the highest level in history, and it has become China’s largest mobile phone brand manufacturer for two consecutive months. While the sales of other major mobile phone manufacturers fell in October, Apple’s sales increased by 21% month-on-month. The overall sales in the Chinese market fell by 15% year-on-year, while Apple’s sales fell by only 4%, further improving Apple’s market share.
  • TrendForce: In the near future, with the improvement of OLED technology and the optimization of materials, coupled with the promotion of brand factories, the layout of large-generation production lines has been planned one after another. It is estimated that after 2025, with the capacity allocation gradually in place, the penetration rate of OLED in IT products will reach 2.8%, and there will be a chance to have a significant breakthrough in 2026, reaching 5.2%.

China

  • In November, the Caixin PMI recorded 49.4, up 0.2 percentage points from October, continuing the contraction trend since August.
  • National Railway Group: In the first 11 months, the national railways completed a coal transportation volume of 1.91 billion tons, an increase of 143 million tons or 8.1% year-on-year, of which 1.35 billion tons of coal were transported, an increase of 160 million tons or 13.2% year-on-year. The number of vehicles loaded with coal and thermal coal hit the best level in history. The coal transportation volume of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang, the four main coal production areas, increased by 10.2% year-on-year. Coal loading to Henan increased by 28% year-on-year, to Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi increased by 17% year-on-year, to Shandong, Sichuan and Chongqing increased by 10% year-on-year, and to Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Northeast regions increased by 3% year-on-year. As of the end of November, 363 railway direct power supply plants across the country had 75 million tons of coal stored, a year-on-year increase of 9.2%, and the number of usable days was 29.4 days, a year-on-year increase of 3.8 days.
  • In November, China’s manufacturing purchasing managers index was 48%.
  • The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the list of 45 national advanced manufacturing clusters. Among them, there are 13 in the field of new generation information technology, 13 in the field of high-end equipment, 7 in the field of new materials, 5 in the field of biomedicine and high-end medical equipment, 4 in the field of consumer goods, and 3 in the field of new energy and intelligent networked vehicles.

Company

  • Xiaopeng Motors’ revenue in the third quarter was 6.82 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.3%; its net loss was 2.376 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 49%. The delivery volume in November was 5,811, a month-on-month increase of 14%; from January to November, a total of 109,465 vehicles were delivered, a year-on-year increase of 33%. Ideal Auto delivered a total of 15,034 new cars in November, setting a record for the highest delivery in a single month, with a year-on-year increase of 11.5%; from January to November, a total of 236,101 vehicles were delivered. NIO delivered 14,178 vehicles in November, a year-on-year increase of 30.3%; from January to November, a total of 106,671 vehicles were delivered, a year-on-year increase of 31.8%.
  • H&M: 1,500 employees will be cut to cut costs. Annual savings of about SEK 2 billion (approximately US$ 190 million) are expected. The global cost and efficiency program is expected to incur restructuring charges of just over SEK 800 million (USD 75.8 million) in the fourth quarter.

World

  • US: Third quarter GDP growth revised to 2.9%.
  • Eurostat: The inflation rate in the euro area was 10% in November, a slight decrease from the inflation rate in October. Core inflation was 5.0%. Energy prices rose by 34.9% year-on-year, which was the main reason for pushing up inflation for the month. Prices of food, tobacco and alcohol rose by 13.6%.
  • The British Retail Consortium: The price of fresh food in the UK rose by 14.3% year-on-year in November, the highest increase since records began in 2005. At present, the price of fresh food in the UK, especially meat, eggs and milk, has risen sharply, which is related to the soaring energy price and the rising cost of farming and transportation.
  • The Japanese government requires households and businesses across the country to save electricity from December 1 local time until the end of March next year. It is the first time since 2015 that a national winter power saving requirement has been put forward.
  • Japan: Industrial and mining production fell month-on-month in October. The preliminary statistical results released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan on November 30 showed that due to the decline in overseas demand, Japan’s industrial and mining production index fell by 2.6% month-on-month to 95.9 in October. This is the second consecutive month of decline for the index. Among all 15 industries, 8 industries experienced a month-on-month decrease, of which production machinery decreased by 5.4%, electronic components and devices decreased by 4.1%, and the chemical industry decreased by 4.9%.