Trade alert

  • Stainless steel wedge gate valve: The Eurasian Economic Union has decided to impose anti-dumping duties. Recently, the Internal Market Protection Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission issued an announcement to impose a five-year anti-dumping duty on steel wedge gate valves imported from China with a nominal diameter of 50-1000 mm and a nominal pressure of 16-250 kgf/c㎡  . The Eurasian Economic Union tax codes of the products involved are 8481806310, 8481806320 and 8481806390. The announcement will take effect 30 natural days after the date of publication.

Industry-China

  • China Securities Journal: During the year, many listed companies have deployed POE production capacity. According to industry insiders, POE has better water vapor barrier rate, better weather resistance, and PID resistance. The increase in the penetration rate of photovoltaic N-type TOPCon cells and double-sided double-glass modules （光伏N型TOPCon电池和双面双玻组件）will significantly stimulate the demand for photovoltaic-grade （光伏级）POE particles. POE demand is expected to reach more than 300,000 tons. (PS.POE is polyolefin elastomer, which is a new generation of film material)

China

  • State Press and Publication Administration: In December, a total of 84 domestic games were approved, including “Border of Tomorrow《明日边境》”, “Rebirth of Dawn《黎明重生》”, “Qin‘s Moon: Canghai《秦时明月：沧海》”, “Night at the Circus”《马戏团之夜》, “One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes: 2022《十万个冷笑话：2022》”, “Bad People” 3: Wushuang Jianghu《不良人3：无双江湖》 Pania Wars《帕尼亚战纪》, etc.; a total of 45 imported online games have been approved, and Tencent’s “Pokémon Gathering《宝可梦大集结》” is listed.
  • On December 28, the Kubuqi Desert （库布其沙漠） New Energy Base Project officially started construction in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. This is the world’s largest wind power photovoltaic base project developed and constructed in desert, gobi, and hungriness areas(沙漠、戈壁、荒漠), and it is also China’s first 10 million Kilowatt-level new energy large base project.
  • Radio Television Hong Kong website: Property prices in Hong Kong have fallen for six consecutive months, the lowest since July 2017.
  • In the first 11 months, the total amount of RCEP certificate visas issued by the national trade promotion system was 6.254 billion US dollars, and the number of visas totaled 142,100. Yang Fan, spokesperson of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that the export destination countries include Japan, South Korea, Thailand and other 9 member countries that have implemented it, total reducing or exempting a total of about US$9 million tariff for China products.
  • Bureau of Statistics: In 2022, the national cotton planting area will be 3,000.3 thousand hectares (45.004 million mu), a decrease of 279,000 hectares (418,000 mu), or 0.9% less than that in 2021; tons, an increase of 4.3%.
  • The cargo throughput of Shandong Port Rizhao Port (山东日照港)exceeded 500 million tons.

Company

  • Apple: Apple will begin MacBook production in Vietnam 2023.
  • BlackBerry announced its results: as of the end of November, it recorded a loss of US$4 million in the third quarter, compared with a profit of US$74 million in the same period last year; revenue fell 8.2% to US$169 million, slightly higher than market expectations of US$168.7 million.
  • TrendForce: The shipment of the iPhone 14 series in 2022 has been lowered to 78.1 million units; it is estimated that the shipment of Apple’s iPhone series in the first quarter of 2023 will be further adjusted to 47 million units, a 22% decline compared to the same period last year. In addition, Luxshare Precision（立讯精密） has become one of the ranks of the iPhone 15 Pro Max assembly supply chain. At present, its iPhone foundry is still located in China, while the Vietnam factory is mainly based on Apple peripherals. There is currently no iPhone production line plan.
  • ONE(Japan’s Ocean Network Express ): Will acquire 3 container terminals on the west coast of the United States.Recently, according to news from the shipping industry, ONE will acquire three container terminals on the west coast of the United States. Specifically, ONE acquired a 51% stake each in TraPac LLC and Yusen Terminals LLC (YTI) through deals with MOL and NYK Line.

World

  • Japan: A subsidy of about 300,000 yen will be given to minors who move out of Tokyo. From fiscal 2023, the amount of subsidy given to them will increase to 1 million yen.
  • Japan: The global production capacity of eight major automakers fell by 4% in November. Eight large Japanese car companies announced on December 26 that their global production capacity in November was 2.1087 million vehicles, a decrease of 4% compared with the same period last year. Due to the impact of insufficient supply of parts and other factors, the production capacity of four automakers, including Honda and Nissan Motor, has experienced negative growth. Compared with the previous year, the four car companies such as Toyota Motor, which are less affected by the deployment of parts, have positive growth.
  • South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense: The total amount of defense funds needed in the next five years will be 331.4 trillion won, with an average annual growth rate of 6.8%. Among them, the defense improvement cost was 107.4 trillion won, with an average annual growth rate of 10.5%. The operation cost of combat power was 224 trillion won, with an average annual growth rate of 5.1%. The defense improvement fee will focus on the construction of a Korean-type three-axis system.
  • Russia: Putin signed a presidential decree in response to the West’s price limit on Russian oil. According to the relevant documents published on the Russian legal information website, the Russian side will prohibit the supply of Russian oil and oil products to foreign legal entities and individuals who directly or indirectly use the price cap mechanism in the contract. This presidential decree will come into effect on February 1, 2023 and will be valid until July 1, 2023.
  • Philippines: Economic zone development and investment return to pre-COVID-19 levels.
  • Indonesia: Ocean fishing quota system will be implemented next year.
  • Deutsche Post confirmed that it will finally suspend the telegraph service on December 31, marking the withdrawal of this 213-year-old telecom service in Germany. Previously, Deutsche Post was one of the few institutions in the world that still retained the telegram business. Some companies or enterprises sometimes sent messages of condolence and thanks to old employees who had served for many years by telegram.
  • Uzbekistan: Vigorously promote the electrification of railways.
  • Spain launched the “Digital Talent Visa”, hoping to attract more talents from related industries to live and live in Spain.
  • Brazil’s central bank grants payment institution status to Google Pay.