Trade alert

  • Malleable cast iron pipe fittings: Argentina made the final ruling of the second anti-dumping sunset review. Recently, the Argentine Ministry of Economy issued an announcement to make a positive final ruling on the second anti-dumping sunset review of malleable cast iron pipe fittings and ductile iron pipe(可锻性铸铁管件和球墨铸铁管配件) fittings with an inner diameter of less than 600mm originating in China and Brazil, and continue to make affirmative final rulings on the products involved in Brazil and China. Anti-dumping duties of 143% and 295% were imposed respectively, and the export price and quantity commitments reached with Chinese producers/exporters Jinan Meide Casting Co., Ltd.(济南玫德铸造有限公司 )and Qingdao HR International Trade Co., Ltd. (青岛广祺国际贸易有限公司)were maintained.

Trade

  • Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council: In 2023, the import and export tariffs of some commodities will be adjusted. Among them, the provisional import tax rate for chestnuts, licorice and its products, large tires, sugarcane harvesters(栗子、甘草及其制品、大型轮胎、甘蔗), etc. will be canceled, and the most-favored-nation tax rate will be restored; in order to promote the transformation and upgrading of related industries and high-quality development, export tariffs on aluminum and aluminum alloys will be increased. From July 1, 2023, China will also implement the eighth step of tax reduction on the most-favored-nation tax rates for 62 information technology products. After adjustment, China’s overall tariff level will be reduced from 7.4% to 7.3%.
  • International Business Daily: The import and export of Metal, minerals and Chemicals (五矿化工)will maintain a growth trend throughout the year. From January to October, the total import and export volume of China’s Metal & minerals & Chemicals industry was US$1,685.7 billion, accounting for 32.1% of the country’s total import and export volume, an increase of 15.1% year-on-year. Among them, exports were US$638.5 billion, up 20.7% year-on-year; imports were US$1,047.1 billion, up 11.9% year-on-year.
  • Nikkei Chinese website: The charter fee for Capesize ships (cargo weight about 180,000 tons), which is an indicator of large bulk carriers, has rebounded. The weekly average price on the spot market from December 19th to 23rd was $20,293 per day, reaching the highest level in about five months.
  • Expectations of a recovery in Chinese demand ensured that moves in iron ore and coal carriers expanded. China accounts for 70% of global iron ore imports.
  • Gazprom: Russia’s gas exports to Europe via pipeline plummeted to post-Soviet lows in 2022 as Russia’s largest customer cut imports due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and a major pipeline damaged by a mysterious explosion.
  • Mauritius: Set up a RMB clearing center. Mauritius has become the third African country where the RMB clearing center has settled down after South Africa and Zambia.
  • Vietnam: Durian exports to China have soared, nearly 40 times. In October alone, Vietnamese durian exports to China reached nearly US$50 million, a year-on-year increase of 4.12%. Throughout 2022, Vietnam will export a total of 30,000 tons of durian to the Chinese market.
  • Germany: According to statistics from the German Federal Statistical Office, due to the sharp rise in foreign trade prices, Germany’s exports to countries outside the EU fell by 0.5% month-on-month to 61.8 billion euros in November, an increase of 13.8% year-on-year. The United States is still Germany’s largest export market, with exports reaching 14.6 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 32.3%. Trade with China rose 5.6 percent to 9.4 billion euros.

Industry

  • Strategy Analytics:  5G users increased from 819 million in June to 924 million in September, and exceeded 1 billion in the past 4-5 weeks. The momentum of global 5G development continues to increase. By the end of this month, 5G networks will cover 36% of the world’s population, and 5G mobile phones will soon account for half of global mobile phone sales.

China

  • Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: In terms of antigen detection reagents, the daily production capacity of enterprises has expanded from 60 million in early December to 110 million now, an increase of 83%. In terms of acupressure pulse oximeters, the daily output has also increased from 115,000 units in early November to more than 250,000 units. In addition, solving the problem of normal drug use is the top priority of ensuring the supply of medical supplies. At present, the production capacity of ibuprofen and acetaminophen, two types of antipyretic and analgesic drugs, has been greatly increased. The daily production capacity has reached 202 million tablets, and the output has reached 190 million tablets, which has more than quadrupled compared with the beginning of December.
  • On December 28, China’s commercial offshore wind farm with the largest single unit capacity was completed and put into operation (State Power Investment Corporation Jieyang Shenquan No. 2 Offshore Wind Power Project). According to reports, the annual power generation of one fan is about 38.2 million kWh, which can meet the annual electricity demand of nearly 20,000 households.
  • China Shipbuilding Industry Association: From January to November, China’s shipbuilding industry maintained a steady development trend. The 75 key monitoring shipbuilding companies achieved a main business income of 280.33 billion yuan, an increase of 11.3% year-on-year; the total profit was 7.54 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 109.4%. According to Clarkson data, global new ship orders this year were 41.93 million revised gross tons, a year-on-year decrease of 22%. Among them, Chinese shipbuilding companies undertook 20.34 million revised gross tonnage, ranking first with a 49% share.
  • Shijiazhuang International Land Port China Railway Express breaks through 500 trains.

Company

  • Financial Associated Press: Over the past year or so, the difficulty of raising the 3nm yield rate has soared. TSMC has continuously revised the 3nm blueprint for this purpose, and has divided into multiple 3nm family versions such as N3 and N3E. Since the cold winter of semiconductors has not yet passed, customers such as Intel and Apple have changed their new product plans. Therefore, although TSMC’s first-generation N3 process is mass-produced, the number of shipments in Q4 is very small. The sales of new Apple iPhones began to increase slowly month by month.
  • Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer in the United States: Quarterly sales more than doubled year-over-year as rapidly rising inflation and bird flu outbreaks drove up prices. The net average sale price per dozen eggs was $2.88 in the three months ended Nov. 26, up from $2.37 in the previous quarter and $1.15 in the same period a year earlier.
  • Wish has reached a cooperation with Eurora, a cross-border e-commerce service provider.
  • Pacific International Lines (PIL): announced new ports of call on the China Gulf route.
  • Meta: EU accuses Meta of alleged monopoly in its online advertising business.
  • MUJI: Announced a price increase, with an average price increase of 25%.

World

  • In 2021, Germany will make a net contribution of 25.1 billion euros to the EU common budget, making it the largest net contributor among EU member states, more than double that of France, the second largest net contributor to the EU budget. It is estimated that in 2021, Poland will have a net gain of 11.8 billion euros from the EU common budget, making it the largest net beneficiary.
  • Japan: December 29th began to enter the peak period of returning home at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. As of December 15, the number of designated seat reservations for Shinkansen and ordinary railways at the end of the year and the beginning of the year increased by 16% compared with 2021, reaching 2.83 million seats.
  • Vietnam: The economy will grow by 8.02% in 2022, the fastest annual growth rate since 1997, thanks to strong domestic retail sales and exports.
    Statistics Korea: Chip production shrank for the fourth consecutive month in November, down 15% year-on-year, the biggest drop since 2009. Overall industrial output fell by 3.7% year-on-year, the largest drop since the start of the new crown epidemic.
  • The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: From January 5, 2023, the new crown nucleic acid testing requirements will be resumed for passengers departing from China.
  • Russian National Bureau of Statistics: In 2022, Russia’s grain output will increase by 24.2% compared with the same period last year, and the net weight of processed grain will reach 150.7 million tons, a record high.
  • South Korea: After the first lunar probe “DANURI” successfully entered the lunar orbit and completed several attitude adjustments, it will officially perform its exploration mission as soon as February next year.
  • Spain: Announces plan worth 10 billion euros to combat inflation. Specifically, it includes: a one-time subsidy of 200 euros each for about 4.2 million households with an annual income of less than 27,000 euros, a temporary reduction of value-added tax on basic foods such as bread and vegetables, and an extension of tax incentives for electricity and natural gas costs.