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Short, verified market news summaries; every item names its source and publication date.
Philippine Peso Hits Record Low Amid Fallout From the Iran War
According to Al Jazeera, the Philippine peso hit an all time low of 62.71 to the US dollar on Friday, September 4, 2026 (13 Shahrivar 1405). Per the report, the currency has lost about 6 percent of its value against the dollar since the start of the calendar year, after earlier hitting a record low of 61.847 on July 24. Al Jazeera attributed the peso's decline to a mix of domestic and international factors: before the war, the Philippines imported nearly all its oil from the Persian Gulf, and in March, Manila declared a state of national emergency after Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted its oil supply. Rising global oil prices have forced Philippine importers to convert more pesos into dollars to buy dollar priced crude. Philip McNicholas, Asia sovereign strategist at Robeco Singapore, said the country's twin fiscal and trade deficits, combined with elevated inflation, have left the currency vulnerable to swings in global risk sentiment.
Al Jazeera
South Korea's Presidential Office Denies Reports of Troop Deployment to the Strait of Hormuz
South Korea's presidential office denied media reports on Friday, 13 Shahrivar 1405 (September 4, 2026), according to Donya-e-Eqtesad, that the country had decided to send military forces to the Strait of Hormuz, saying no such decision has been made so far. The denial came after outlets including Ecoiran had earlier reported on a plan for South Korea to deploy troops or take over minesweeping responsibility in the Strait of Hormuz, pending a vote in the country's parliament, while Al Jazeera reported Seoul was weighing a "contribution" to security in the strait under pressure from the United States. South Korea is heavily dependent on oil imports that pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and any decision on a military presence there could affect the country's energy security risk.
Donya-e-Eqtesad
Yen Jumps for Second Straight Day on Bank of Japan Rate Hike Bets
According to Ecoiran, the Japanese yen strengthened more than 1.5 percent against the US dollar for a second straight day on Thursday, September 3, 2026 (12 Shahrivar 1405), with the dollar yen rate falling to 156.26, the yen's highest level in about a month. Sahmino's own live data showed the dollar yen rate at 155.82 as of 15:55 Tehran time, down 1.84 percent from the start of today's trading, consistent with the yen's strengthening trend. Ecoiran, citing Bloomberg, reported that the Bank of Japan is leaning toward a 25 basis point rate hike at its two day meeting ending September 18, in response to rising price risks. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda had earlier said the bank would debate a possible rate increase at its September meeting.
Ecoiran, citing Bloomberg
China Has Bought Up to 90 Percent of Iran's Oil Exports Since War Began
According to Al Jazeera, China, Iran's largest trading partner, has bought up to 90 percent of Iran's crude oil exports since the US and Israeli war on Iran began in late February 2026, even though Iranian crude accounts for only about 2 percent of China's overall energy mix. China's major state owned refiners, such as Sinopec and PetroChina, have shunned Iranian oil for years, leaving the trade largely to independent "teapot" refiners with limited exposure to the dollar based global financial system. Al Jazeera also reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping held a brief meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, before again calling for a diplomatic resolution to the Iran war during his first visit to Egypt in a decade on Tuesday. A summit between the Chinese and US presidents is also scheduled for September 24 (2 Mehr 1405).
Al Jazeera
China Draws on 1 to 1.4 Billion Barrel Oil Reserves to Cushion Global Market from Hormuz Crisis
According to Eco Iran, China imported about 400 million fewer barrels of crude over the past six months compared with the same period in 2025, offsetting part of the shortfall by drawing on its strategic reserves, a move the report says has played a role similar to OPEC+'s past market balancing function and has helped keep the current Strait of Hormuz tension from driving a fuller spike in oil prices. Estimates put China's total oil reserves at roughly 1 to 1.4 billion barrels, equivalent to about 120 days of the country's imports. Beijing has invested heavily in oil storage in recent years to reduce its vulnerability to disruptions along the sea routes that carry its crude, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca. Expanding renewable energy and greater reliance on coal have also reduced the country's dependence on oil imports. The reserves are not unlimited, however, and a prolonged crisis would be a real test of China's economic resilience. As Iran's largest oil buyer, China's behavior has a direct bearing on the outlook for Iran's oil exports and on global demand.
Eco Iran
China's Coking Coal Prices Post Record 46 Percent Monthly Surge
According to Oilprice.com, citing data compiled by Bloomberg, coking coal futures on China's Dalian exchange posted a record 46 percent monthly surge in August 2026, the biggest monthly gain since the contract began trading in 2013, surpassing the previous record of a 38 percent rise in July 2025. The rally followed the shutdown of some mines after a deadly accident in May and tighter safety inspections at other Chinese mines. Bloomberg reported the price surge has spilled beyond China's borders, squeezing margins for steelmakers in India, the world's second largest steel producer, which relies on imports for 95 percent of its coking coal needs. Mining giant BHP said Indian import demand and supply disruptions, including those linked to the Iran war, have tightened the global coking coal market. The trend could affect raw material costs for the steel industry worldwide, including for Iranian steel exporters.
Oilprice.com
China and Russia Weigh an Irtysh River Route to the Arctic Ocean
According to a report by the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post, published Sunday, 8 Shahrivar 1405 (August 30, 2026), and carried by Iran's Donya-e-Eqtesad (citing Shafaqna), China and Russia are weighing development of an inland shipping route of about 4,248 kilometers along the Irtysh River. The route would start in China's western Xinjiang region, cross Kazakhstan, join Russia's Ob River, and empty into the Arctic Ocean. According to observers cited in the report, the main goal is to reduce China's current reliance on the Bering Strait for Arctic access, a passage that could become a critical chokepoint for Chinese trade in the event of a US naval blockade or surveillance. The route could also serve as an alternative to the Strait of Malacca. The report said the plan remains at the study stage and faces political and natural obstacles, including the need for dredging and new hydraulic structures roughly every 50 to 100 kilometers.
South China Morning Post
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson: Dialogue Is the Only Practical Way Forward on Iran
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters on Saturday, 7 Shahrivar 1405 (August 29, 2026), that on Iran, dialogue and negotiation are the only practical way forward. According to ISNA, citing Anadolu Agency and carried by Khabaronline, he added that Beijing opposes illegal and unilateral sanctions and that China's position is fixed and clear. The remarks came after US President Donald Trump threatened to sanction Chinese banks over their ties with Iran. Asked whether Washington intended to do so, Trump said he did not have to announce all of his decisions in advance. Washington's campaign for new economic sanctions on Tehran and to restrict its access to the global financial system has been under way since February 28.
Khabar Online, citing ISNA and Anadolu Agency
Visa and South Korea's Dunamu Partner on Stablecoin Payments
Visa and Dunamu, the South Korean parent company of crypto exchange Upbit, said on Friday, 6 Shahrivar 1405 (August 28, 2026), that they have formed a strategic partnership to explore stablecoin payments, cross border remittances and AI powered commerce. According to Cointelegraph, citing Dunamu's announcement, the companies will combine Dunamu's digital asset technology with Visa's global payments network. The two are considering business models involving Open USD (OUSD), a dollar backed stablecoin unveiled in June that more than 140 companies, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Coinbase and BlackRock, have signed up to use, though Dunamu said it has not prioritized a specific stablecoin for the partnership. The companies will also explore agentic commerce, in which AI agents make purchases and payments on a user's behalf.
Cointelegraph
Losses at Jinko, JA Solar and Tongwei Cut Into China's Solar Boom in First Half of 2026
According to a Bloomberg report carried by Oilprice.com on Friday, 6 Shahrivar 1405 (August 28, 2026), three of China's top solar companies, Jinko Solar, JA Solar Technology and Tongwei, reported deepening losses in their first half results for 2026, reflecting weak demand for solar equipment both at home and abroad. The report said new solar capacity additions in China fell to 72.07 gigawatts in the first half of the year, down from 212.2 gigawatts in the same period last year. JA Solar said in a statement cited by Bloomberg that the industry still faces temporary and structural overcapacity. China's solar equipment exports fell 21.4 percent year on year last month, after Beijing canceled an export tax rebate for the sector in April. Even so, China's total installed solar capacity reached 1,274 gigawatts by the end of June, near the country's total coal fired capacity of 1,275 gigawatts.
Oilprice.com, citing Bloomberg
CNN Analysis: China's Small "Teapot" Refineries Import Sanctioned Iranian Oil Through a System Separate From the US Dollar
CNN, in an analytical report that Iran's ISNA news agency carried on Thursday, 5 Shahrivar 1405 (August 27, 2026), wrote that China is importing sanctioned Iranian crude oil through an opaque system designed to stay separate from the US dollar system and sanctions. According to the report, small Chinese refineries known as "teapots," mainly in Shandong province, buy and process this oil, relying on a network of ports, financial institutions and tankers that have largely stayed hidden from international detection; the US Treasury (OFAC) had separately warned on 8 Ordibehesht 1405 (April 28, 2026) that these teapot refineries process roughly 90 percent of Iran's oil exports through the US financial system. Max Meizlish, a senior analyst at the Washington based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told CNN that many of these entities are directly or indirectly owned by large Chinese state firms integrated into the US dollar system, and that Washington could pressure parent companies by sanctioning their subsidiaries. Zhao Long, director of the Shanghai Institute for International Strategic Studies, said Beijing is unlikely to accept a US demand to determine which third country trade is legal. Sun Chenghao, a researcher at Tsinghua University, warned that sanctioning major Chinese banks could push a possible Xi Jinping and Trump meeting from stabilizing relations toward damage control.
Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing ISNA and CNN
China Vows to Safeguard Its Interests as US Expands Sanctions Targeting Iran
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian rejected Washington's expanding pressure campaign against Iran at a regular briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, 3 Shahrivar 1405 (August 25, 2026), and called for an immediate end to US unilateral measures. According to Al Jazeera, he said cooperation between China and Iran has always been conducted within the framework of international law and that China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its own rights and interests. The remarks followed comments a day earlier, on Monday, 2 Shahrivar (August 24), by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said no one is above the reach of US sanctions when asked whether Chinese banks could be targeted by Washington's newest measures against Iran. Al Jazeera noted China is Iran's biggest oil customer and that the latest US sanctions package targeting Iran's economy has also hit entities in China. Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute in Washington, told Al Jazeera it is unlikely the US would target Chinese entities just weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned visit to Washington.
Al Jazeera
CNOOC Posts Record First Half Profit of $12.9 Billion, Up 23 Percent, as China Pumps More Oil at Home
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) released its first half financial results on Wednesday, 4 Shahrivar 1405 (August 26, 2026). According to the report, carried by Oilprice.com, net profit attributable to shareholders rose 23.4 percent year over year to 85.8 billion yuan (about 12.9 billion dollars), while oil and gas sales revenue climbed 20 percent to 206.1 billion yuan. The biggest driver, the report said, was a 23.6 percent rise in CNOOC's average realized oil price to 85.49 dollars a barrel in the first six months of the year, a trend that followed the start of the Iran war. Net oil and gas production also rose 3.7 percent to a record 398.7 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which 275.2 million barrels were produced domestically in China. The report said Beijing has for years pushed its state oil companies to raise domestic output and reduce reliance on imported energy, a strategy that has taken on renewed urgency since the Iran war disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, one of China's most important oil supply routes.
Oilprice.com
China's Imports of Iranian Oil Have Nearly Halved Since the War, Falling to 534,000 Barrels a Day in August
According to ship-tracking data from Kpler cited by The National on August 26, 2026, China's imports of Iranian crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz averaged about 534,000 barrels a day in July and August, a level 48% below pre-war volumes and 72% below the October 2024 peak of nearly 1.9 million barrels a day. The Guardian reported separately on August 25, 2026, citing the same Kpler data, that Chinese imports of Iranian oil fell to 785,000 barrels a day in June and to about 534,000 barrels a day in August. The reports say the US blockade of Iranian ports and ships, renewed in July, combined with disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al Mandeb, has pushed China's independent "teapot" refiners toward costlier alternative routes such as the Suez Canal. China is estimated to hold 1 to 1.4 billion barrels of oil reserves, giving it a buffer to absorb the disruption, according to the reports.
The National
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Condemns New US Sanctions on Iran, Vows to Continue Cooperation With Tehran
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press briefing on Tuesday, Shahrivar 3, 1405 (August 25, 2026) that Beijing has repeatedly voiced firm opposition to illegal unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law or UN Security Council authorization. According to Oilprice.com, it was China's first official, on the record reaction to the sanctions package the US Treasury dubbed Operation Economic Outcast, announced Monday, Shahrivar 2 (August 24), which targets individuals, companies and vessels operating in the UAE, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Switzerland and Europe that Washington says move Iranian oil and channel its revenue to Iranian entities, though the package stopped short of sanctioning major Chinese banks. Lin said economic warfare and maximum pressure provide no solution, and that such measures only fuel tensions, create risk spillover into the global economic and financial order, and harm the legitimate rights and interests of other countries. He repeated several times that China will do everything necessary to firmly safeguard its rights and interests, and, asked whether Beijing would change its conduct toward Iran to meet US demands, said China's cooperation with Iran operates within the framework of international law and should not be disrupted.
Oilprice.com
China's Sinopec Shifts Strategy as Fuel Sales Slump 8.6% Amid EV Boom
China's state-held Sinopec, the world's biggest oil refiner, reported growing net profit in its first-half 2026 results published last weekend (around August 20), but flagged that domestic refined fuel consumption fell 8.6% year on year: gasoline dropped 7.9% and diesel 11.5%, while jet fuel rose 1.3% on stronger international travel. Revenue in the marketing and distribution segment fell 1.5% year on year, and demand for chemical products was weak, with ethylene-equivalent consumption down 9.9%. Sinopec chairman Hou Qijun, appointed a year ago, told analysts at a results presentation on Monday, August 24, as reported by Reuters, that the company will allocate more capital to new energy, chemicals, shale oil and sustainable aviation fuel to adapt to China's declining fuel demand as electric vehicles displace gasoline cars.
Oilprice.com, citing Reuters
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore Pledge to Keep the Strait of Malacca Open Amid the Hormuz Crisis
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, the three littoral states of the Strait of Malacca, affirmed in a joint statement on Tuesday, August 25, 2026 (3 Shahrivar 1405), their commitment to keeping the strait, Asia's busiest shipping route, free and safe for navigation. According to Oilprice.com, the statement came amid the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis and a sharp drop in tanker traffic through it. Singapore's Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said at a joint Indonesia Malaysia Singapore forum that this year's events in the Middle East reminded the world that open sea lanes cannot be taken for granted, and that the three countries would work to keep the Malacca and Singapore Straits free, open and safe. The Strait of Malacca is the shortest route for transporting oil cargoes from the Middle East to Asia.
Oilprice.com
US Readies a 7.5 Percent Tariff on Chinese Goods Ahead of Trump-Xi Meeting
The US government is preparing to impose a 7.5 percent tariff on Chinese goods over allegations of industrial overcapacity. According to Donya e Eqtesad, citing Bloomberg and published Tuesday, August 25, 2026 (3 Shahrivar 1405), the move is expected to be finalized before Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet in Washington next month, on September 24 (2 Mehr). The new tariff would bring total tariffs imposed on China during Trump's second term to about 20 percent, a level Beijing has said is consistent with the two countries' trade truce. The report said the Trump administration launched Section 301 investigations into industrial overcapacity against more than ten major trading partners in March, and separately imposed a 12.5 percent tariff on Chinese goods in July over alleged forced labor practices. The two countries' one year trade truce is due to expire on November 10 (19 Aban). US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had earlier said delays in the overcapacity investigation's findings are unrelated to efforts to preserve the truce with Beijing.
Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing Bloomberg
BYD's sales growth stalls in China, putting its 5.5 million vehicle target at risk
According to Ecoiran, citing Fortune and published Tuesday, Shahrivar 3, 1405 (August 25, 2026), monthly sales at BYD, China's largest electric automaker, have nearly stalled in recent months, with domestic China sales down about 8 percent year on year in June. To reach its 2025 target of 5.5 million vehicles, BYD would need to average roughly 560,000 units a month for the rest of the year, above its all time monthly sales record of just under 515,000 units set last December. Deutsche Bank has cut its BYD full year sales estimate to about 5 million vehicles, and Morgan Stanley to 5.3 million. Rivals including Geely, XPeng and Xiaomi have taken market share from BYD in China, after the company cut prices on some models by as much as 34 percent in late May.
EcoIran, citing Fortune
Japan's Power Prices Jump 20 Percent in a Week to Highest Level Since January 2023
Japan's nationwide day-ahead electricity price rose 20 percent in a week to hit its highest level since January 2023 on Monday, Shahrivar 2, 1405 (August 24, 2026), according to Oilprice.com. Citing data from the Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX) carried by Bloomberg, the report said Monday's price reached 25.18 yen (about $0.16) per kilowatt hour. The report attributed the jump to a heatwave boosting consumption, but said the larger driver was disruption to West Asian oil and gas supply and a doubling of liquefied natural gas prices since before the Iran war, as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has also cut off Qatar's LNG exports. Japan, one of the world's largest LNG importers, has shifted power generation from gas to coal since early summer, the report said, pushing the country's power generation fuel costs to their highest level in more than three and a half years.
Oilprice.com
South Korea's KOSPI Plunges Nearly 40 Percent From Its June Peak, Wiping Out Small Investors
According to Al Jazeera, published Saturday, Mordad 31, 1405 (August 22, 2026), South Korea's KOSPI index, which had surged an unprecedented 101.14 percent in the first half of this year from below 5,000 points to an intraday peak of 9,385.59 on June 19, gave back most of those gains by July 30, falling back below 5,595 points, a drop of nearly 40 percent from its peak. The index fell almost 6 percent on Wednesday, August 19. Per data from the Korea Financial Investment Association, margin loans used to fund stock purchases, which had reached 38.6 trillion won (27.6 billion dollars) at the June peak, fell to 28.9 trillion won (20.7 billion dollars) by the end of July, as brokerages liquidated the holdings of investors who could not cover their losses. The boom and bust centered largely on two chipmaking giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for more than half the index's weight. Al Jazeera quoted Eun-bi, a civil servant in her thirties who had put most of her savings into the market ahead of her wedding next year, saying she lost tens of thousands of dollars and is now reconsidering her wedding budget. Approval ratings for South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who had pledged to lift the KOSPI to 5,000 points, have fallen for five consecutive weeks, reaching 43 percent in an August 10-14 Realmeter poll, the lowest of his presidency.
Al Jazeera
South Korea's Rookie Investors Lose Savings as AI Stock Rally Turns to Rout
South Korea's KOSPI index, which hit an all-time high of 9,385.59 points in June this year, had reversed most of its gains by late July, falling below 5,595 points, and dropped nearly 6 percent on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, a day after a 1.55 percent decline on Tuesday. According to Al Jazeera, the KOSPI is up about 50 percent since the start of this year but remains 30 percent below its record high; margin loans used to buy stocks have fallen from a June peak of 38.6 trillion won ($27.6 billion) to 28.9 trillion won ($20.7 billion) by the end of July. The report said many first time investors entered the market at the encouragement of President Lee Jae-myung and have since lost part of their gains; regulators had approved leveraged exchange traded funds tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for more than half the KOSPI's weight. Lee's approval rating has fallen for five consecutive weeks to 43 percent in an August 10 to 14 Realmeter survey, the lowest of his presidency.
Al Jazeera
Japan's Crude Imports From the US Surge Eightfold to a Record 891,000 Barrels a Day in July
According to Oilprice.com, published Friday, 30 Mordad 1405 (August 21, 2026), Japan's imports of US crude surged more than eightfold in July to a record 891,000 barrels per day, accounting for 36 percent of the country's total crude inflows. Japan's imports of US liquefied natural gas also jumped 59 percent over the same month. The surge extends Tokyo's push to diversify its energy sources away from disrupted West Asian supply amid the Strait of Hormuz blockade, aided by relatively lower US West Texas Intermediate crude prices. Japan, which sourced about 90 percent of its crude from West Asia before the US Israel war on Iran began, has increasingly turned to suppliers including Nigeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada and now the United States since the conflict started.
Oilprice.com
China's Offshore Yuan Hits Its Strongest Level Since January 2023 as the Dollar Stays Weak
China's offshore yuan strengthened to around 6.72 per dollar on Friday, August 21, 2026 (30 Mordad 1405), marking a third straight session of gains and its strongest level since January 2023. According to Trading Economics, the USD/CNY rate fell to 6.7195 on August 21, down 0.09 percent from the previous session; the yuan has strengthened 0.82 percent over the past month and 6.31 percent over the past twelve months. According to the report, persistent US dollar weakness, driven by fading expectations of further Federal Reserve rate hikes and rising demand for longer dated US Treasuries after an expanded bond buyback program, has supported the yuan. China's central bank also kept its one year loan prime rate unchanged at 3 percent and its five year rate at 3.5 percent, for a fifteenth consecutive month.
Trading Economics
Japan's Import Bill Hits Record $76 Billion as Oil Prices Climb
Japan's import bill reached an all time high of 76.39 billion dollars in July as oil prices climbed, up 27.8 percent from July 2025. According to Oilprice, citing Reuters, Japan's crude oil import volumes rose 5.5 percent year on year, but the value of the oil bill surged 87.8 percent, breaking the previous record set in June. Japan, which sourced about 90 percent of its crude from West Asia before the US-Israel war with Iran began at the end of February, has since moved urgently to diversify, buying oil from Nigeria, Angola, South Sudan, Azerbaijan, the United States and Canada. Analysts said persistently high oil prices, amid mutual threats between Tehran and Washington, have deepened inflation fears in Japan.
Oilprice
China's Crude Oil Imports Jump 22 Percent in July to 8.45 Million Barrels a Day
According to Chinese customs data reported by Reuters and published by Oilprice.com on Monday, August 17, 2026 (26 Mordad 1405), China's crude oil imports jumped 22 percent in July from June to an average of 8.45 million barrels a day, rebounding from a decade low recorded in June. The increase came as China released weaker than expected economic data: July retail sales rose just 0.6 percent year on year, below a Reuters poll estimate of 1.5 percent, while industrial output grew 4.5 percent, short of a 4.8 percent forecast. The report said China, the world's largest crude importer, has been taking advantage of lower oil prices to stockpile reserves, a cushion that lets it pull back on imports if prices spike or supply is disrupted, a capacity analysts say has played a key role in capping global oil prices amid the West Asia crisis.
Oilprice.com, citing Reuters and China Customs
China's Key Lending Rate Holds at Record Low for a 14th Straight Month
China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, kept its one-year loan prime rate (LPR), the benchmark for most corporate and household borrowing, at a record low of 3.0 percent on Monday, August 17, 2026 (26 Mordad 1405) for a 14th consecutive month, while the five-year LPR, the reference rate for mortgages, was also held at 3.5 percent, a decision fully in line with market expectations. According to Trading Economics, citing the People's Bank of China, the move reflects Chinese policymakers' caution over the fallout from the war in West Asia on the domestic economy, as China's GDP growth in the second quarter slowed to its lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2022. The report said price pressure on Chinese consumers and producers persists amid higher energy costs and supply chain disruption linked to the West Asia crisis, yuan lending in June rose from May but grew more slowly than a year earlier, and housing prices continued their decline in China's property sector in June.
Trading Economics, citing People's Bank of China
China's Solar Panel Exports Fall 21.4% in July
According to Chinese customs data reported by Reuters and published by Oilprice.com on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 (27 Mordad 1405), China's exports of solar cells and panels fell 21.4 percent in July from a year earlier, the third straight monthly decline since Beijing scrapped export tax rebates for the products on April 1, 2026. The China Photovoltaic Industry Association has welcomed the move as helping restore rational pricing abroad. Even so, exports to Africa and South and Southeast Asia kept growing this summer, while shipments to Europe fell 18 percent and to West Asia fell 38 percent in June.
Oilprice.com, citing Reuters
Japan's Spring Growth Falls Short of Forecasts as the Yen Sits Near a 40 Year Low
Official data from Japan's Cabinet Office showed the economy grew 0.3 percent quarter on quarter in the April to June 2026 period, down from 0.5 percent growth in the prior quarter and below the 0.5 percent growth analysts had forecast, Al Jazeera reported. It was the third consecutive quarter of expansion, but annualized growth came in at 1.1 percent, well below the 1.67 percent annualized growth a survey of 37 economists by the Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER) had projected. Private consumption was flat while capital expenditure fell 1.2 percent quarter on quarter (4.6 percent annualized), even as net exports contributed 0.5 percentage points to growth and domestic demand subtracted 0.2 percentage points. Norihiro Yamaguchi, lead Japan economist at Oxford Economics, said he expects growth to stay sluggish in the second half of 2026, partly because of rising energy costs stemming from the fallout of the United States-Israel war on Iran, given Japan imports nearly all of its crude oil. Al Jazeera also reported that the Japanese yen hit a 40 year low against the dollar last month, and the Bank of Japan, which raised its policy rate to 1 percent in June, its highest in more than three decades, will hold its next policy meeting on September 17 and 18.
Al Jazeera
China's Zhibao Technology Launches a 2,380 Bitcoin Treasury Reserve
Zhibao Technology, a Nasdaq-listed Chinese company, officially launched its bitcoin treasury by receiving 2,380 bitcoin, according to Arzdigital, citing the company's own announcement. The assets were delivered through private PIPE financing in exchange for newly issued company shares, with the agreed deal value put at about 154.7 million dollars. Per the announcement, investors transferred all agreed bitcoin to Zhibao's dedicated wallet on 26 Mordad 1405 (August 17, 2026). The company delivered more than 395 million PIPE units in the first phase, while issuance of the remaining roughly 46 million units depends on shareholder approval and an increase in the company's authorized capital.
Arzdigital
Xi Jinping to Meet Trump in Washington on September 24 but Will Skip the UN General Assembly
According to Politico, as reported by Ecoiran citing Fararu on Tuesday, 27 Mordad 1405 (August 18, 2026), Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Washington next month to meet US President Donald Trump but, contrary to earlier speculation, will not attend the UN General Assembly session in New York. Four people familiar with the trip's planning said Xi is expected to arrive in the US late on September 23, hold meetings with Trump only on September 24 at the White House, and depart on September 25. The White House confirmed the September 24 meeting but declined to comment on any other possible plans for Xi's stay. Diplomatic circles in Washington had earlier speculated Xi might use the UN General Assembly to present China's views on peaceful international development, in contrast with the US military approach in the war with Iran. Richard Stengel, a former US State Department official under the Obama administration, called Xi's absence from the UN a missed opportunity for China. Xi last addressed the UN General Assembly in person in 2015.
Ecoiran, citing Fararu and Politico
Japan's Economy Grew Just 1.1% Annualized Last Quarter, Less Than Half of Market Forecasts
According to Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing government data released on Monday, 26 Mordad 1405 (August 17, 2026), Japan's real GDP grew 0.3% quarter on quarter and 1.1% annualized in the second quarter of 2026 (April to June), well below the roughly 2% annual growth economists polled by Reuters had expected. Japan's economy had grown 1.9% annualized in the first quarter. Per the Japan Times, private consumption was essentially flat and corporate capital investment fell for a second straight quarter. Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai ichi Life Research Institute, said earlier concerns about the data had centered on higher import prices and supply chain constraints linked to regional tensions surrounding Iran, though some other analysts warned the economic fallout from those tensions could intensify over the summer quarter. The yen was little changed in today's trading, holding near 159 to the dollar.
Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing Reuters and The Japan Times
China's State Iron Ore Buyer Signs Deal With South Africa's Kumba; BHP Accepts Yuan Pricing
According to Ecoiran, the China Mineral Resources Group (CMRG), established in 2022 to consolidate China's iron ore buying power, now represents more than 50 percent of China's steelmaking capacity. The group has recently signed a contract with Kumba Iron Ore, the South African unit of Anglo American, running from April 1, 2026 through the end of March 2027, and estimated to cover 8 to 10 million tons of iron ore; contract pricing was not disclosed. Kumba sold about 37 million tons of iron ore in 2025. In a separate development, BHP, after lengthy negotiations, agreed to yuan denominated pricing for part of its contracts with CMRG, a shift that, if it spreads to future contracts, could gradually reduce the global iron ore market's traditional reliance on the dollar and Singapore Exchange dollar denominated indexes.
Ecoiran
China's Retail Sales Growth Slows to 0.6% in July; Unemployment Rises to 5.2%
According to official data from China's National Bureau of Statistics published by Trading Economics, China's year on year retail sales growth slowed to 0.6 percent in July 2026, down from 1 percent growth in June and well below the market's 1.5 percent forecast. Automobile sales posted the sharpest decline among big ticket items, falling 17 percent; excluding automobiles, retail sales rose 2.5 percent. Sales of petroleum products fell 7.6 percent, furniture 8.8 percent and building materials 14.2 percent. The same data showed China's industrial production growth slowing to 4.5 percent in July from 5.3 percent in June, while the surveyed urban unemployment rate rose to 5.2 percent in July from 5.0 percent in June, above the market's 5.1 percent forecast. The unemployment rate among migrant workers also rose, to 5.2 percent from 4.9 percent.
Trading Economics
Chinese Automakers Boost Exports 88 Percent in July to Offset Domestic Slump
China's auto industry is expanding into global markets at an accelerating pace even as domestic demand suffers a prolonged slump. According to Reuters, cited by Donya e Eqtesad on Sunday, August 16, 2026 (25 Mordad 1405), Chinese passenger car sales fell 20 percent year on year in July 2026 to 1.47 million units, the tenth straight month of declining demand, while first half sales were down about 2.3 million units from a year earlier. By contrast, Chinese auto exports rose 71 percent in the first half of the year and surged 88 percent in July alone to nearly 923,000 units. BYD increased overseas sales 79 percent in the first seven months of the year even as its domestic sales fell 35 percent. Chinese brands' share of Europe's passenger car market has climbed from 3 percent to 16 percent over four years, and their share of Europe's fully electric vehicle market has reached nearly a quarter. Research firm Counterpoint estimates Chinese brands could account for more than 20 percent of Europe's overall passenger car market by 2030.
Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing Reuters
Taiwan Restricts Mobile Internet Speed During Han Kuang Military Drill
According to Khabaronline, citing Zoomit and the Associated Press, Taiwan's government restricted mobile internet bandwidth in Taipei and six other cities to 256 kilobits per second for 30 minutes on Saturday, August 15, 2026 (24 Mordad 1405), during the final phase of its annual Han Kuang military exercise. The restriction effectively cut access to 5G networks and made it impossible to exchange image or video files. The move was intended to simulate crisis conditions and preparedness for a potential Chinese attack. Taiwanese President Lai Ching te visited medical facilities to oversee a trial relocation of critical hospital departments to underground shelters and apologized to citizens for the disruption, calling the exercise necessary for national security. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said 18 Chinese fighter jets and 11 warships were detected around the island's air and maritime boundaries during the drill.
Khabaronline, citing Zoomit and AP
Yen Pulls Back From 40 Year Low After Joint US Japan Intervention
According to Al Jazeera, in a report published Friday, August 14, 2026 (23 Mordad 1405), the United States and Japan staged a coordinated intervention last week to halt the yen's slide after the currency fell to a 40 year low against the dollar. The intervention began on July 31 (9 Mordad), when the US Treasury started selling euros to buy yen while Japanese authorities bought yen simultaneously. The yen, which had fallen to 163 against the dollar for the first time since 1986, recovered to 157 to the dollar by Wednesday, August 12 (21 Mordad). Al Jazeera noted the US last staged a joint currency intervention with Japan in 2011, following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. ING global head of markets Chris Turner told Al Jazeera that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's mix of growth focused, fiscally loose and monetarily loose policies has weakened the yen and created an inflation problem. The report said the yen's weakness, rooted in Japan's decades long economic stagnation and compounded by new pressure from the US Israel war on Iran, has raised import costs for Japanese households.
Al Jazeera
New Zealand Grants New 10 Year Oil and Gas Production Permit in Taranaki
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZP&M), the country's petroleum and mining regulator, said on Thursday, August 13, 2026 (22 Mordad 1405), according to Oilprice.com, that it has granted Matahio NZ Onshore Limited a 10 year petroleum mining permit in the onshore Taranaki region for the Puka field, discovered in 2012; the permit area also includes the Oru exploration prospect. New Zealand Resources Minister Shane Jones said the permit would bring additional natural gas to the domestic market over the next decade and generate export earnings from new oil production. Matahio estimates recoverable reserves at the Puka discovery at about 170,000 barrels of oil and 1.3 billion cubic feet of gas, while an independent assessment of the Oru prospect puts prospective resources at 1.8 million barrels of oil and 1.2 billion cubic feet of gas. Minister Jones said that with New Zealand's gas reserves declining, every new source helps secure the country's energy supply; the permit follows the country's first offshore oil and gas exploration license, awarded earlier this year after the previous government's drilling ban was lifted.
Oilprice.com
China's Top Coal-to-Chemicals Producer Posts $1.4 Billion First-Half Profit as Oil Prices Surge
According to Oilprice.com, citing Bloomberg, in a report published Thursday, 22 Mordad 1405 (August 13, 2026), Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group, which accounts for about a third of China's coal-to-chemicals output, reported a record first-half profit of $1.4 billion, nearly double the same period a year earlier. The company said in its statement that rapid, highly volatile swings in global crude prices sharply raised feedstock costs for oil-based olefin production, while domestic Chinese coal prices rose only moderately. According to an earlier Reuters report, shares of China's coal-to-chemicals sector jumped about 30 percent between late February and mid-March. Citing International Energy Agency data, the report said China now produces 85 percent of its methanol and ammonia from coal.
Oilprice.com, citing Bloomberg and Reuters
US and Japan Carry Out Coordinated Currency Intervention to Halt the Yen's Slide
The United States and Japan carried out a coordinated currency intervention last week to halt the yen's slide, after the currency fell to a 40 year low against the US dollar. According to Al Jazeera, reporting Thursday, August 13, 2026 (22 Mordad 1405), the intervention began on July 31 (9 Mordad) when the US Treasury sold euros to buy yen while Japanese authorities simultaneously bought yen. The yen, which had fallen as far as 163 to the dollar, recovered to 157 to the dollar by Wednesday, August 12 (21 Mordad). Market experts told Al Jazeera that Washington's main concern is the risk of Japan selling large quantities of US Treasury securities to raise funds needed to defend the yen, a move that could push up US interest rates. Japan's holdings of US Treasuries stood at 1.114 trillion dollars as of May. The last time the US intervened to support the yen was in 2011, following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
Al Jazeera
China's C919 Passenger Jet Completes Its First International Flight, From Beijing to Ulaanbaatar
China's C919 single aisle passenger jet, built by state owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), completed its first international flight on Wednesday, August 12, 2026 (21 Mordad 1405), operated as Air China flight CA723. The flight left Beijing at 15:17 local time and landed in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, at 16:58 local time. According to Khabar Online, citing Digiato, the route will now operate daily with one round trip. The C919, designed as a direct rival to the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, has not yet received certification from US (FAA) or European (EASA) aviation regulators, which limits its access to Western markets. Development of the aircraft began in 2007, and the first unit rolled off the production line in Shanghai in 2015.
Khabar Online, citing Digiato
Chinese Gold ETFs See 14 Straight Days of Inflows, Absorbing a Pullback From a Two Month Global High
According to a report by Arzdigital published Tuesday, August 11, 2026 (20 Mordad 1405), the global gold market pulled back toward $4,399 an ounce on profit taking after touching a two month high near $4,435. Citing Bloomberg data, the report said Chinese gold ETFs have posted 14 consecutive trading days of inflows, their longest streak since March 2026, drawing in more than $1.2 billion in fresh capital over that stretch, with the largest single day inflow reaching $370 million. The report described the buying as a reaction to a 10 percent drop in China's CSI 300 stock index in July 2026, which it said pushed institutional investors toward gold as a liquid, safe haven asset. Silver prices, by contrast, fell 2.3 percent on the day.
Arzdigital, citing Bloomberg
Falling Shandong Stockpiles Set to Push China's Independent Refiners Toward More Iranian Oil
According to Oilprice.com, in a report published Tuesday, August 11, 2026 (20 Mordad 1405), China's independent refiners, known as teapots, are likely to increase purchases of Iranian crude starting in August, as their stockpiles in Shandong province, the teapots' main base, fell to an eight month low of about 360 million barrels by the end of July. Data from Energy Aspects, cited by Bloomberg, showed the drawdown in July alone was about 35 million barrels, the biggest monthly decline recorded since the firm began compiling the data in 2016. Oilprice.com said China's independent refiners had cut crude imports for most of the recent Middle East war by drawing on reserves and limiting purchases, but are now expected to buy more from Iran as cargoes that left the Strait of Hormuz during a mid-June to early-July window, when the US blockade on Iranian exports was temporarily lifted, become positioned to ship to Asia. According to Chinese customs data, the country's total crude oil imports rose 22 percent from June to average 8.45 million barrels a day in July.
Oilprice.com
China's Zijin Mining Posts Biggest Market Value Gain Among World's 50 Largest Miners in July
According to Bourse News, China's Zijin Mining added $24 billion, a 23.8 percent gain, to its market value in July 2026, the biggest dollar gain among the world's 50 largest mining companies, whose combined value reached $2.17 trillion. The company passed Newmont to become the world's fourth largest miner by market value, at $125 billion. The main driver was Zijin's early July announcement on its first half performance, in which it said it expects net profit to rise 68 percent to about 39.1 billion yuan. The company's gold output rose 15 percent to more than 1.5 million ounces, while its lithium carbonate output reached 43,000 tonnes, up from just 7,000 tonnes a year earlier.
Bourse News, citing Mining.com
South Korea's Current Account Surplus Hits Record $49.73 Billion in June on Chip Exports
According to Bank of Korea data published by Trading Economics on Monday, 19 Mordad 1405 (August 10, 2026), South Korea's current account surplus hit a record 49.73 billion dollars in June 2026, sharply up from 38.61 billion dollars in May. The goods account surplus rose to 47.89 billion dollars, as exports surged 84.5 percent year on year to 112.37 billion dollars, outpacing a 38.6 percent rise in imports to 64.48 billion dollars. The main driver was robust global demand for semiconductors, particularly for AI applications. South Korea's current account surplus for the first half of 2026 totaled 191.01 billion dollars, compared with 47.87 billion dollars in the same period of 2025.
Trading Economics (based on data from Bank of Korea)
Typhoon Dolphin Forces Mass Evacuations in Shanghai, Cancels Over 1,300 Flights
According to Iran's IRNA news agency, citing Japan's Kyodo News, Typhoon Dolphin reached the megacity of Shanghai in eastern China, home to more than 30 million people, late on Sunday, August 9, 2026, bringing winds of up to 150 kilometers per hour. The storm, which had earlier passed over Taiwan and the Philippines, prompted more than 300,000 Shanghai residents to preemptively leave their homes and forced the cancellation of over 60 percent of flights at the city's Hongqiao and Pudong airports, roughly 1,300 flights in total, by Sunday. Local authorities in Taizhou, in Zhejiang province, evacuated about 390,000 people, while more than 30,000 residents were moved from higher risk areas of Shanghai. The typhoon also brought heavy rain to northern Taiwan and caused flooding in Manila, the Philippines, displacing more than 12,000 people and closing schools in several northern cities and provinces.
Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing IRNA and Kyodo
China's Producer Inflation Eases to 3.5 Percent in July, Lowest in Three Months
China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Sunday, 18 Mordad 1405 (August 9, 2026), that the producer price index (PPI) rose 3.5 percent year on year in July, down from 4.1 percent in June and below the 3.8 percent market estimate in a Reuters poll, the lowest producer inflation reading since April. The consumer price index (CPI) also eased, with annual inflation at 0.5 percent, a six month low, as food prices fell 1.5 percent. According to Daily Sabah, the slowdown came as global energy prices retreated somewhat after uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz eased. Zhaopeng Xing, ANZ's senior China strategist, said lower oil prices combined with weakening demand pulled both July inflation gauges below expectations. China's leadership, facing a two speed economy of strong factory output and exports but weak domestic demand, has pledged to bolster growth by accelerating fiscal spending on already budgeted infrastructure projects through year end.
Daily Sabah
US and Japan Launch Coordinated Currency Intervention to Halt Yen's Slide
According to Al Jazeera on August 8, 2026 (17 Mordad 1405), the United States and Japan staged a coordinated currency intervention last week to halt the yen's slide, after the Japanese currency fell to 163 against the dollar, its lowest level in 40 years and the first time since 1986. The intervention began on July 31, with the US Treasury selling euros to buy yen while Japanese authorities also bought yen, lifting the currency to 157 to the dollar by Wednesday. Al Jazeera cited analysts who said the yen's weakness stems from decades of Japanese economic stagnation and the Bank of Japan's ultra low interest rate policy, compounded by new pressure from the US Israel war on Iran. The last joint US Japan intervention to defend the yen was in 2011, after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Analysts said Washington's main concern is the risk that Japan could sell large amounts of US Treasury securities, of which it held 1.114 trillion dollars as of May 2026, to raise funds to keep defending the yen.
Al Jazeera
China's Crude Oil Imports Plunge 41 Percent to Lowest Since 2016 Even as Overall Imports Hit a Record
China's crude oil imports fell 41 percent in June 2026 due to the Iran war, hitting their lowest level since October 2016, according to official General Administration of Customs data reported by Trading Economics. At the same time, China's total imports for the month rose 36.0 percent year on year to a record $286.76 billion, beating forecasts of 24 percent and marking the fastest growth since June 2021, driven by soaring chip prices and global demand for AI data center hardware. Natural gas imports climbed to a five month high of 10.93 million tons, and coal imports jumped 30 percent after mine safety crackdowns curbed domestic supply, while copper and iron ore imports also rose. In the first half of 2026, China's total imports increased 26.6 percent to $1.55 trillion.
Trading Economics (citing China General Administration of Customs)
US Defense Department to Invest $400 Million in Australian Scandium Mine
The US Department of Defense announced a $400 million conditional loan commitment on Friday, August 7, 2026, to build the world's first primary scandium mine in Australia, a critical rare earth element whose market is dominated by China, Al Jazeera reported. The announcement followed a meeting between US President Donald Trump and mining executives in Washington. Australian miner Sunrise Energy Metals said the proposed project in Fifield, New South Wales, aims to become a cornerstone of Western scandium supply. Scandium, used in defense, aerospace and 5G/6G technology, is typically sourced as a byproduct of other mining, and China, which dominates its supply and processing, restricted exports for defense products last year. Trump also said the US federal government would invest $3 billion in multiple critical minerals and battery projects.
Al Jazeera
China's exports jump 23.9% in July, trade surplus hits $112.5 billion
China's exports rose 23.9% year on year in July 2026, marking a second straight month of growth above 20%, according to General Administration of Customs data reflected by Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper on Friday, August 7, 2026 (16 Mordad 1405). Imports grew 27.5% in the same month, pushing China's trade surplus to $112.5 billion. Bloomberg reported that China's chip exports jumped 117% year on year in July and computer exports rose 67%, while car exports grew 60% and shipbuilding exports 92%. China's trade surplus with the European Union hit a fresh record of $33.8 billion in July. Barclays analysts attributed the export strength mainly to the global wave of investment in artificial intelligence and green technology, even though Typhoon Bawi, the region's most powerful storm in eight decades to hit Zhejiang province, had temporarily halted operations at some of the country's busiest ports.
Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing citing China Customs, Bloomberg and Barclays
China Shifts Part of Its Gold Reserves From London to Hong Kong After 20 Straight Months of Buying
China's central bank is moving part of its physical gold reserves from London to Hong Kong after 20 consecutive months of gold purchases. According to a Bloomberg report carried by Arzdigital on Friday, August 7, 2026 (16 Mordad 1405), Beijing has increased its physical gold holdings in Hong Kong in recent months. Hong Kong launched trial operations of its Precious Metals Central Clearing Company (PMCC) on July 7, 2026 (16 Tir 1405), infrastructure directly linked to the Shanghai Gold Exchange that settles physical gold on a T+1 basis, unlike the London market, which operates mainly on unallocated accounts. Per the same report, China bought about 14.93 tonnes of gold in June 2026, its largest monthly purchase since October 2023, taking its official gold reserves to 2,346 tonnes by the end of June. The World Gold Council said the world's central banks bought a combined 288.9 tonnes of gold in the second quarter of 2026, the strongest such quarter on record.
Arzdigital, citing Bloomberg
China's Central Bank Logs Biggest Monthly Gold Purchase Since October 2023
The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, extended its gold buying streak to a 21st consecutive month, official data cited by Reuters showed on Friday, August 7, 2026, with purchases rising for a fifth straight month. Reserves climbed to 76.08 million fine troy ounces at the end of July from 75.44 million ounces a month earlier, an increase of 640,000 ounces, or nearly 20 metric tons. The addition was the biggest monthly increase in China's gold reserves since October 2023, when holdings rose by 740,000 ounces. China's central bank, one of the world's largest sovereign gold buyers, has been a persistent support for global gold prices in recent months.
Kitco News (Reuters)
China's Crude Oil Imports Jump 22% in July to 8.45 Million Barrels a Day
China's crude oil imports reversed an earlier decline, rising 22 percent from June to an average of 8.45 million barrels a day (35.73 million tons total) in July 2026, Oilprice.com reported, citing Bloomberg, which cited Chinese customs data. China had cut total crude imports to a decade low in June, slashing volumes by roughly 4.4 million barrels a day versus the 2025 average. According to U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates, China held the world's largest strategic oil stockpile at the end of 2025, at 1.397 billion barrels, more than the combined strategic reserves of the United States, Japan, OECD Europe, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and India. That cushion let China pause imports despite Middle East turmoil. Oilprice.com also cited a Reuters report that refiner Sinopec has boosted purchases of Russian ESPO crude for third quarter delivery to as many as 40 shipments, or 241,000 to 320,000 barrels a day.
Oilprice.com, citing Bloomberg
China's trade surplus widens to $112.5bn in July as AI driven exports jump 23.9%
According to official data from China's General Administration of Customs, published by Trading Economics on Friday, 16 Mordad 1405 (7 August 2026), China's trade surplus widened to 112.5 billion dollars in July 2026, up from 97.7 billion dollars a year earlier and beating analysts' forecast of 107 billion dollars. Exports jumped 23.9 percent year on year to 397.85 billion dollars, driven largely by strong demand for AI related technology products and a rush by manufacturers to ship goods to the United States ahead of possible new tariffs; semiconductor exports nearly doubled and overall high tech product exports rose 40.7 percent. Imports also rose in July, up 27.7 percent year on year to 285.35 billion dollars, though the pace eased from a 36 percent jump in June. China's trade surplus with the United States narrowed to 28.03 billion dollars in July from 28.9 billion dollars in June. Over the first seven months of 2026, China's trade surplus reached 687.37 billion dollars, up from 683.5 billion dollars in the same period last year. The United States imposed a new 12.5 percent tariff on Chinese goods in late July, replacing an earlier temporary 10 percent levy.
Trading Economics (based on data from China General Administration of Customs)
China's state oil giant CNOOC launches the world's first 16-megawatt floating wind turbine
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), one of China's largest oil producers, announced on Thursday, August 6, 2026 (15 Mordad 1405), the start of operations of the world's first 16-megawatt tension-leg platform (TLP) floating wind power platform. The platform, named Haiyou Anlan, was connected to the Lufeng Oilfield grid via a 4.3-kilometer subsea cable. CNOOC said the structure was designed to withstand extreme typhoon conditions and was installed 136 kilometers (85 miles) offshore in the Pearl River Mouth Basin in the northern South China Sea. The company said the platform is expected to generate 54 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, saving 15,000 cubic meters of fuel oil and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 35,000 tons a year. Chinese media described the approach, which combines wind power with storage and conventional fuel generation, as "oil and gas plus new energy."
Oilprice.com
US Treasury Secretary says joint yen intervention aimed to prevent wider Asian financial instability
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 (13 Mordad 1405), that the joint US-Japan intervention to support the yen was intended to prevent instability from spreading across wider Asian markets, comparing the situation to the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. The operation, which began last week on Friday, July 31 (9 Mordad), marked the first joint yen-buying intervention by the two countries since 1998, coming after the yen slumped to a four-decade low of almost 164 per dollar. Bessent said excess volatility in the South Korean won and concerns that the Chinese renminbi is undervalued were among the reasons a stable yen mattered for the entire region. He said that if the yen kept weakening, Japan, the largest foreign holder of US Treasuries, could be encouraged to sell large quantities of those bonds to raise cash to defend its currency. By Wednesday, August 5 (14 Mordad), the yen had strengthened by around 4 percent from its one-month low.
Daily Sabah
South Korea's Kospi drops more than 4 percent as tech shares decline on Wall Street
South Korea's Kospi index dropped more than 4 percent after declines in shares of several tech giants including memory chipmaker SK Hynix, The Associated Press reported on Thursday, 15 Mordad 1405 (6 August 2026). Live Trading Economics data showed the index down 4.58 percent from the previous session at 6,296 points; Samsung Electronics fell 6.50 percent and SK Hynix 10.67 percent. CoinDesk, in a separate report published the same day, put the Kospi's decline at 4.4 percent and described the index as a bellwether for the AI trade. According to the AP report, Brent crude held steady near $79 a barrel the same day, with uncertainty over the direction of the US-Iran war still weighing on markets despite hopes for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. On the other side of the ledger, South Korea reported a record current account surplus of $49.73 billion for June 2026, driven by strong semiconductor exports.
The Associated Press
US Treasury Secretary asks Fed to expand FIMA facility capacity to support yen without Treasury sales
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has asked the Federal Reserve to expand the capacity of its FIMA Repo Facility so Japan can raise the dollars needed to support the yen without large-scale sales of US Treasury holdings, Ecoiran reported Thursday, August 6, 2026 (15 Mordad 1405), citing Bloomberg. The request follows the coordinated US-Japan intervention that pulled the yen back from a 40-year low of 163 per dollar to 157 starting Friday, July 31 (9 Mordad). The FIMA facility, created during the COVID-19 crisis and made a permanent tool in 2021, lets foreign central banks post Treasury securities held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as collateral for short-term dollar loans, without directly selling the bonds on the market. Japan holds more than $1.114 trillion in US Treasuries, the largest foreign holder of US government debt, and large-scale sales could push up Treasury yields and raise the cost of servicing the United States' $39 trillion debt. Some analysts have warned that expanding FIMA, which was designed to manage financial crises rather than fund currency interventions, could encourage speculators to test the two countries' resolve, and that any change to the Fed's tools would ultimately require approval from the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee.
EcoIran, citing Bloomberg
US and Japan stage joint intervention to halt yen's slide; currency recovers from 40 year low to 157 per dollar
The United States and Japan launched a coordinated intervention starting Friday, 31 July 2026 (9 Mordad 1405), to halt the yen's slide, after the currency fell to 163 per dollar for the first time since 1986. According to an Al Jazeera report published Wednesday, 5 August 2026 (14 Mordad 1405), the US Treasury sold euros to buy yen while Japanese authorities bought yen at the same time. Following the move, the yen strengthened to 157 per dollar by Wednesday. It is the first joint US Japan intervention since the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami; Washington last supported the yen during the 1998 Asian financial crisis. Analysts say the yen's structural weakness stems from the Bank of Japan's ultra low interest rate policy and from fresh pressure tied to the US Israel war on Iran. Japan's benchmark rate now stands at 1.0 percent, its highest since 1995 but still far below US rates. Washington's main concern is that a disorderly yen decline could push Japan to sell large amounts of its US Treasury holdings, valued at 1.114 trillion dollars as of May 2026, to raise cash to defend its currency, a move that could push up Treasury yields and the cost of servicing US debt, which already exceeds 39 trillion dollars.
Al Jazeera
Binance sues RedotPay in Hong Kong court over user poaching, seeking $472.8 million in damages
The Binance cryptocurrency exchange has filed suit in a Hong Kong court against the crypto payments company RedotPay and its founders. According to Arzdigital, Binance alleges that RedotPay breached commercial agreements by diverting more than 470,000 Binance Card users to its own stablecoin payment card service, and is seeking $472.8 million in damages. The report said the two companies' partnership began in December 2023, when RedotPay enabled card top ups via Binance Pay. RedotPay, which now has more than 8 million users worldwide and is weighing a US stock market listing at a potential valuation of $4 billion, denied all allegations in an official statement and said the lawsuit would not affect its daily operations. A related complaint has also been filed in Singapore against RedotPay co founder Zhangpeng Zhao.
Arzdigital
China restricts drone exports and sanctions six US entities in response to US trade curbs
China's Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday, 5 August 2026 (14 Mordad 1405), that exports of drones, core components and related dual use technologies to the United States will now be reviewed on a case by case basis. Beijing simultaneously sanctioned six US entities, including Applied DNA Sciences and Human Rights in China, barring them from trade with Chinese individuals and entities. According to Arzdigital, the moves are a response to recent US restrictions, including a Federal Communications Commission ban on imports of new Chinese drones, the addition of 43 Chinese companies to a Uyghur forced labor sanctions list, and new curbs on imports of foreign made humanoid robots and power inverters. The tensions have escalated ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's expected visit to the United States in September.
Arzdigital
China's power demand hits records in a heatwave while the grid manages the load without blackouts
Oilprice reported on Wednesday 5 August 2026 that the State Grid Corporation of China said electricity demand across much of the country hit a record amid scorching summer temperatures, driving grid loads to all time highs. The report was carried by Reuters. According to the company, electricity loads reached records in China's northern, northeastern and eastern regions on Monday 3 August and Tuesday 4 August 2026. No blackouts were reported, with the grid operator directing more baseload electricity in time to the regions where it was needed for air conditioning. China's power consumption is one of the indicators of energy demand in the world's largest oil importer.
Oilprice
Chinese police university researchers build an AI system to detect crypto money laundering with about 90% accuracy
Researchers at China's National Police University, which operates under the Ministry of Public Security, have designed a framework based on artificial intelligence and large language models that can identify money laundering and economic crimes involving virtual assets such as bitcoin. The report was published on Wednesday 5 August 2026 (14 Mordad 1405). The South China Morning Post reported that the system has reached about 90% accuracy in flagging suspicious transactions. By analysing transaction flows across blockchain networks, the algorithm detects abnormal behaviour such as layering and splitting sums into smaller transactions to evade financial supervision. Unlike systems built on predefined rules, it can process large volumes of on chain data. According to figures from China's Supreme People's Procuratorate, 3,259 people were prosecuted in 2025 on suspicion of laundering linked to virtual assets and underground financial networks. Experts stressed that 90% accuracy does not mean the system is error free, and that its output must be confirmed through human review and legal process.
Bourse News, citing South China Morning Post
China partly lifts fuel export curbs, allowing 2.7 million tonnes of oil product exports
China has partially lifted the fuel export restrictions it imposed earlier this year, allowing its refiners to export 2.7 million tonnes of oil derivatives to destinations excluding Hong Kong and Macau, Reuters reported, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. The report was published on Wednesday 5 August 2026. The temporary easing of export caps applies to this month, and refiners may roll some volumes over to September if they fail to secure purchase deals for the full allotment. The new quotas cover gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Reports in late June said the Chinese government would allow state refiners to export only 800,000 tonnes of refined fuels in July. China halted fuel exports days after the war in West Asia began and the Strait of Hormuz closed, a decision that deepened an already severe global fuel supply crunch. In June, the country's fuel oil exports rose 18% year on year to 577,000 barrels per day, the highest level since the start of 2026. The return of Chinese supply matters for product importers across the region.
Oilprice.com, citing Reuters
North Korea threatens additional military options after Japan's Tomahawk missile test
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korea's leader, warned in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, that Pyongyang would adopt "additional military options" after Japan test-fired a US-made Tomahawk cruise missile. She accused the Japanese military of moving away from a defensive posture and transforming into a power capable of preemptive attacks, citing the Tomahawk test from the Aegis destroyer Chokai in the Pacific Ocean, other missile test-firings, and Japan's participation in a US-led joint military drill in the Philippines in May. She also said the United States stands behind those moves by supplying the Tomahawk missiles and supporting the tests. The statement follows at least six KCNA editorials and commentaries since July criticising security cooperation between the United States, South Korea and Japan. Analysts say the messaging could lay the groundwork for fresh military demonstrations, including missile tests. Tension on the Korean Peninsula reaches global markets through East Asian energy demand and financial markets.
Al Jazeera
US and Japan jointly intervene to buy yen for the first time in nearly three decades
The United States and Japan jointly intervened in the foreign exchange market on 31 July 2026 to curb speculative selling of the yen and reduce excessive volatility. It was the first time in nearly three decades that Washington and Tokyo have jointly bought yen to support the currency, the last such operation dating back to the 1998 Asian financial crisis. The dollar to yen rate, which had reached 163.92 on 29 July, fell to 157.98 after a first round of intervention by Japanese authorities on 30 July and ended that day 2.36% lower at 159.54. The joint intervention on 31 July took the pair from an intraday high of 160.89 down to 157.58, a decline of 1.23%. Japanese authorities spent approximately 8.45 trillion yen, or about $59 billion, during the 30 July operation. The yen had weakened toward 164 per dollar, its lowest level in about 40 years, under pressure from the wide interest rate gap between Japan and the US and from higher energy import costs. The Bank of Japan has raised its policy rate to 1%, the highest level in 31 years. Japan is the largest foreign holder of US government debt, with holdings of approximately $1.14 trillion.
Anadolu Agency
Alibaba unveils Qwen3.8-Max AI model with 2.4 trillion parameters
Alibaba unveiled its Qwen3.8-Max artificial intelligence model on Monday, 3 August 2026 (12 Mordad 1405), describing it as the largest and most capable model in its Qwen series to date. Alibaba Cloud said the multimodal model has 2.4 trillion total parameters and supports a context window of up to 1 million tokens. According to the company, the model uses a sparse mixture of experts architecture and activates only 95 billion of its parameters per operation, cutting computing costs and response times compared with dense models of a similar scale. By total parameter count it is slightly smaller than Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, released in July with 2.8 trillion parameters. Alibaba said the model ranked fifth on the Text Arena leaderboard, second on Vision Arena and fourth on a coding focused arena. It is available to developers through application programming interfaces on the Model Studio platform, and the company said it will release the model weights next week. CNBC reported that Alibaba shares rallied following the announcement.
Anadolu Agency
Japan Airlines net profit falls 80.2% to 34 million dollars
Japan Airlines reported that its net profit for the April to June period of the 2026 fiscal year fell 80.2% to 34 million dollars, according to a company statement carried on Monday, 3 August 2026. The carrier attributed the pressure on earnings to higher fuel prices linked to the war in West Asia. Revenue for the three month period rose 11.2% to 5.9 billion dollars. International flight revenue increased 14.4% to 1.3 billion dollars, while domestic flight revenue climbed 3.6% to 886.1 million dollars. Chief Financial Officer Yuji Saito said costs had risen and that outbound travel was weaker than in the same period last year. The airline is targeting a net profit of 701.3 million dollars for the fiscal year ending March 2027. The channel linking this report to Iranian markets is the price of jet fuel, which rose after the disruption to energy exports from the Persian Gulf and is now showing up in the earnings of Asian carriers.
Anadolu Agency
Tokyo and Washington officially confirm joint intervention to support the yen
Japan's Ministry of Finance and the US Treasury have officially confirmed the joint yen buying intervention carried out on Friday 31 July 2026 (9 Mordad 1405). The confirmation followed remarks by US President Donald Trump on Sunday and was reported by Al Jazeera in the early hours of Monday 3 August 2026 (12 Mordad 1405). It is the first coordinated action by the two countries since 2011, and comes with the yen near a 40 year low. In its statement, Japan's Finance Ministry said the intervention "countered excessive volatility and disorderly movements in the Japanese yen in recent months" and added that it "will not hesitate to conduct further joint intervention". US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also confirmed Friday's action, saying Washington "will not hesitate to participate in further joint intervention". Asked by a reporter why the United States was helping, Trump said: "They have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of help. And we're always there for Japan." The dollar fell 0.2 percent to 157.07 yen after Trump's remarks, well off the 40 year high near 164 yen hit late last month, but rose back to 157.70 yen after the Japanese Finance Ministry's statement. Bank of Japan data indicate Tokyo may have sold as much as $58.97 billion to buy yen on Thursday 30 July. South Korea also stepped in to buy its won on Thursday, and the Bank of Japan on Friday gave its most explicit signal yet of an early rate hike while keeping monetary policy unchanged. The dollar index is among the variables affecting the world gold price, and through it Iran's gold and currency markets.
Al Jazeera
China calls the addition of 43 of its companies to a US import blacklist economic coercion
The United States on Friday 31 July 2026 (9 Mordad 1405) added 43 Chinese companies to its import blacklist under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. It is the first time the Trump administration has expanded the list, and 43 is the largest number of companies added in a single batch since the law took effect in December 2021. Beijing condemned the move on Saturday 1 August (10 Mordad), calling it economic coercion. According to Chinese state media, a commerce ministry spokesperson said the US action lacks any factual basis, damages the legal rights of Chinese companies and disrupts global industrial and supply chains. The spokesperson also criticised the timing, saying the measure was announced just one day after Chinese and US trade officials held talks on keeping bilateral economic relations stable, talks Beijing had described as candid and constructive. China again rejected allegations of forced labour in Xinjiang and called on Washington to stop politicising the issue.
Eghtesad Online
South Korea's KOSPI closes down 6 percent as Seoul's equity market sheds $2.18 trillion
South Korean stocks dropped for a second consecutive session, with Seoul's equity market losing about $2.18 trillion in value. The benchmark KOSPI fell as much as 12.6 percent on Wednesday, 29 July 2026, before trimming losses to close down 6 percent, extending Tuesday's near 11 percent rout on 28 July 2026. The slide has erased almost 40 percent of the index's value from a peak reached little more than a month earlier, putting the market on course for its steepest monthly drop on record. The main driver is a sharp drop in investor appetite for chipmakers, which had previously enjoyed strong growth driven by artificial intelligence investment. Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol apologised during a parliamentary session for the introduction of single stock leveraged exchange traded funds, saying they had not been considered carefully enough. After a Wednesday evening meeting with the governor of the Bank of Korea and heads of financial regulators, the Ministry of Finance said it would immediately pursue further curbs on single stock leveraged products, including individual investment limits, citing a cap of up to 20 percent of an investor's total investment amount as an example, higher trading costs and simulated trading requirements. Despite the tumble, the KOSPI is up 41.5 percent in US dollar terms so far in 2026.
Al Jazeera
South Korea to begin importing Argentine crude next year, with a first purchase of about 880,000 barrels
South Korea's national security adviser Wi Sung-lac said on Friday, 31 July 2026, that the country plans to begin importing crude oil from Argentina next year in order to diversify its energy sources beyond West Asia. He said that following a trial import of Argentine crude by a South Korean company this year, an initial purchase of about 880,000 barrels is planned. The announcement came during President Lee Jae-myung's visit to Buenos Aires and his meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei. The two governments agreed on Friday, 31 July 2026, to support a durable start to crude oil trade. Wi said the volume is not yet large but is a suitable starting point, and could grow as Argentina raises oil and gas output and expands export capacity. He described the agreement as part of a broader effort by Seoul to reduce the geopolitical risk that comes with its heavy reliance on West Asian crude. The two countries also agreed to explore wider cooperation in natural gas, nuclear energy and critical minerals including lithium and copper.
Shana
Taiwan's economy grew 12.92 percent in the second quarter of 2026
Government data released on Friday 31 July 2026 showed Taiwan's economy grew 12.92 percent in the second quarter of 2026, which ended in June. The island's gross domestic product rose 8.63 percent in 2025 and 13.69 percent in the first quarter of this year. Its stock exchange also became the fifth largest in the world by market capitalisation earlier this year, overtaking the United Kingdom, Canada and India. The main driver is technology and AI related chip exports to the United States. Last year the US imported $201bn worth of goods from Taiwan, nearly double the $116bn of 2024, and in May Taiwan overtook China to become the third largest source of US imports, after Mexico and Canada. Experts say Taiwan produces about 90 percent of the advanced chips used to power leading AI models. Under an agreement with the US administration, Taiwan will invest $500bn in the United States, half of it as direct investment by semiconductor and technology firms, and it has cut its tariffs on 99 percent of US exports. Reza Hasmath, an academic faculty adviser at The China Institute at the University of Alberta, warned that Taiwan's trade surplus with the US, close to $200bn, is an unbalanced relationship that is not conducive to Taiwan in the long term. TSMC alone accounts for up to 40 percent of the stock market and four percent of GDP growth, while the chip industry employs at most 350,000 people.
Al Jazeera
South Korea to start importing Argentine crude next year with an initial cargo of about 880,000 barrels
Wi Sung-lac, South Korea's national security adviser, said on Friday, 31 July 2026 (9 Mordad 1405), that the country plans to begin importing crude oil from Argentina next year in order to diversify its energy sources beyond West Asia. He said that after a trial import by a South Korean company this year, an initial purchase of about 880,000 barrels is planned. The announcement came during a visit to Buenos Aires by South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. Lee and Argentine President Javier Milei agreed on Friday that their governments would support a durable start to crude oil trade. Wi said the volume is not yet large but is a suitable start, and could grow as Argentina raises oil and gas output and expands its export capacity. The two sides also agreed to explore wider cooperation on natural gas, nuclear energy and critical minerals including lithium and copper. Seoul has described the agreement as part of a broader effort to reduce the geopolitical risk of its heavy dependence on West Asian crude.
Shana
South Korea to launch a $13.9 billion sovereign wealth fund for strategic industries
South Korea's government said on Friday 31 July 2026 that it will launch a new 20 trillion won ($13.9 billion) sovereign wealth fund next year to make long-term investments in strategic domestic industries including artificial intelligence, chips, robotics, defence and biotechnology. The plan was announced at a meeting of economic affairs ministers chaired by Minister of Finance and Economy Koo Yun-cheol, and the fund will be established within the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC). The fund will be capitalised from two sources: about 16 trillion won in shares the government holds in state-run financial institutions, including the Korea Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of Korea and the Industrial Bank of Korea, and roughly 4 trillion won in shares received in lieu of inheritance and gift taxes. Additional funding may come from surplus tax revenue generated by the semiconductor industry and from private donations. Unlike existing policy funds, the new vehicle will operate as "ultralong-term patient" capital, with no predetermined maturity or liquidation date. It will make direct equity investments, exercise the voting rights attached to its holdings and take an active role in corporate governance. The government expects the fund to protect key national technologies and help shield domestic companies from hostile takeovers. Koo said governments around the world are increasingly using strategic sovereign wealth funds not only to build national wealth but also to strengthen economic security and pursue active industrial policies. The government cited comparable moves abroad, noting Indonesia launched Danantara in February 2025, while Taiwan and Canada announced plans in May and April respectively. A revision to the Korea Investment Corporation Act goes to parliament in August, and subject to approval by the end of the year the fund is expected to begin operations next year.
The Korea Times
South Korea's won reaches its strongest level in nine months amid speculation of coordinated Seoul and Tokyo intervention
South Korea's won strengthened sharply against the US dollar on Friday 31 July 2026. According to the Yonhap news agency, the won was quoted at 1,424 per dollar at 3:30 p.m. local time, a gain of 13.4 won from the previous day. The currency had traded at 1,418 per dollar at around 6 a.m., its strongest level since 20 October last year. The stated driver was net buying by foreign investors in the Korean equity market. In the same trading session foreigners bought a net 7 trillion won ($4.9 billion) of local stocks, and the benchmark Kospi index closed 17.91% higher at 6,595.45. Earlier, in overnight trading, the won had advanced to as much as 1,419 per dollar, with traders speculating that currency authorities had stepped in to smooth the market. The won's appreciation was in line with a gain in the Japanese yen, which at one point in overnight New York trading rose to about 158 per dollar, its strongest level in more than two years. Moon Ji-sung, South Korea's deputy finance minister for international affairs, told Yonhap that Korea and Japan have maintained close coordination but declined to confirm whether the two countries jointly intervened in the open market. Lee Min-hyuk, an analyst at KB Kookmin Bank, said the correlation between the won and the yen raised speculation that the currency authorities of both countries might have intervened. The path of major Asian currencies and the dollar index is among the variables shaping the world gold price, and through it Tehran's coin and currency market.
The Korea Times, citing Yonhap News Agency
South Korea's July exports rose 62.8% as chip shipments hit a record $41 billion
South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in data released early on Saturday 1 August 2026 that the country's exports rose 62.8% in July 2026 from July a year earlier, reaching $98.89 billion. The figure beat the market expectation of 59.0%, though it eased from June's 70.7% surge, which was revised downward. Imports rose 26.5% over the same month to a record $68.56 billion, leaving South Korea with a July trade surplus of $30.32 billion. It is the country's eighteenth consecutive month of surplus, and the figure surpassed the market estimate of $29.59 billion. Semiconductors are the main driver behind the numbers: chip exports surged 178.8% in July to a record $41.01 billion, exceeding $40 billion for a second consecutive month, with strong demand for memory chips cited as the main cause. South Korean exports have now risen for fourteen straight months, and the July figure is the second highest on record, after June, when exports passed $100 billion for the first time. South Korea is one of the world's largest exporters of chips and intermediate goods, and its export cycle is treated as a leading indicator of global technology demand, a variable that reaches Iran's markets through global risk appetite.
The Korea Times, citing Yonhap, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea
China raises gasoline and diesel price caps again, leaving fuel 14 to 15 percent above pre war levels
China raised its retail price caps for gasoline and diesel again from Saturday 1 August 2026. According to the country's National Development and Reform Commission, the gasoline cap rises by 685 yuan per tonne and the diesel cap by 655 yuan per tonne. This is the second fuel price increase in less than a month. As a result, China's official fuel prices are now roughly 14 to 15 percent above their last level before the start of the US war against Iran. The decision matters for Iranian markets because China is the world's largest oil importer. The arrival of the crude price surge, driven by regional tensions, in China's own domestic consumer market shows that the price shock has now passed from the global market through to the largest buyer of oil.
Donya-e-Eqtesad
China's solar capacity reached 1,274 GW at the end of June, within one gigawatt of coal
Chinese authorities said on Friday, 31 July 2026, that the country's installed solar generation capacity could overtake coal fired capacity soon, possibly as early as this quarter. According to the China Electricity Council's (CEC) mid year report, as carried by local media, solar capacity stood at 1,274 gigawatts at the end of June 2026, just one gigawatt below total installed coal capacity of 1,275 gigawatts. The report says that by the end of June, total solar capacity had caught up with coal, effectively tying it as the country's largest primary power source. Hou Wenjie, director of the statistics and data intelligence department at the CEC, said non fossil power generation grew 8.5% year on year in the first half of 2026 and accounted for 70.7% of the country's total incremental power generation. Official Chinese data earlier this week showed the share of coal in the country's electricity output averaged 49.7% in the first half of 2026, falling below 50% for the first time on record. According to National Energy Administration data, renewable generation rose about 9% over the same period and its share reached 41.2%, with wind and solar together supplying almost 25% of total power output. China is the world's largest oil importer, and the composition of its energy mix is one of the long term variables in global oil and coal demand.
OilPrice.com, citing China Electricity Council
South Korea schedules its first Arctic container voyage to Europe for 22 August as the Northern Sea Route draws interest away from Suez
South Korea's PanStar Line is booking cargo for the country's first container voyage through the Northern Sea Route, a service due to depart Busan on 22 August 2026 and call at Rotterdam, Hamburg and Gdansk. The vessel chartered for the voyage has a capacity of 2,800 TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent units. According to The Loadstar on Wednesday, 29 July 2026 (7 Mordad 1405), PanStar held a briefing on Monday attended by exporters and third-party logistics executives from CJ Logistics, LX Pantos, Hyundai Glovis, Taewoong Logistics and Intergis, among others. At the briefing, safety concerns were addressed by noting that the average temperature in the Arctic Ocean during the voyage would be between 1 and 8 degrees Celsius, with the small day-to-night difference favourable for maintaining cargo quality. Since bookings opened, requests have risen for a range of cargo: automotive parts and synthetic resins, key Korean exports to Northern Europe, as well as used cars, food products, liquid cargo, cosmetics and steel products. Enquiries and reservations for transhipment cargo from Japan and China are also increasing. PanStar general manager Kang Sang-in said: "The Arctic route is not merely about pioneering a new route, but is also a challenge that creates a new history for South Korea's shipping industry." PanStar, which mainly operates passenger and cargo ferry routes between South Korea, Japan and China, was the only company to bid in the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries tender for the pilot Korea to Europe voyage. Seoul is keen to emulate China in arranging expedited container routes through the passage, and the potential extension of navigable periods in the Arctic, alongside the need for supply chain diversification, has drawn China and Japan to the route as well. With uncertainty over the Suez Canal route heightened by the Red Sea crisis and geopolitical risk, the Northern Sea Route is attracting interest as an option for shortening sailing distances and transit times. For Iran, the emergence of an alternative Asia to Europe corridor across the north matters in the competition with south to north transit routes.
gCaptain, citing Loodstar
Macau's growth slumped to 0.3% in Q2 as investment fell 21.9%
According to preliminary estimates from the Statistics and Census Service of the Macao SAR government published on Friday 31 July 2026, Macau's economy grew just 0.3% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, a sharp slowdown from the first quarter's 7.1% expansion. Despite the slowdown, the second quarter marked Macau's fifth consecutive quarter of economic growth. Services remained the main engine: exports of services rose 7.2% and visitor arrivals increased 13.9% from a year earlier. Private consumption expenditure also grew steadily, up 2.8%. The weakness came from investment and the public sector: gross fixed capital formation fell 21.9% and government spending declined 4.8%. Macau's economy is heavily dependent on tourism and mainland Chinese visitors, so its data is treated as one signal of the state of consumption in China.
Trading Economics (data from Statistics and Census Service of Macau)
Hong Kong's economy grew 4.3% in Q2, but posted its first quarterly contraction since 2022
According to preliminary estimates from Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department published on Friday 31 July 2026, Hong Kong's economy expanded 4.3% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, slower than the first quarter's 5.9% growth and slightly below the market expectation of 4.8%. Domestic components slowed: private consumption expenditure eased to 2.9% from 4.9%, and government consumption expenditure to 0.5% from 2.8%. Gross fixed capital formation also lost momentum, rising 4.6% after an 18.3% increase in the previous quarter. External demand remained the main driver by contrast, with goods exports rising to 28.8% from 23.8%, while goods imports grew 29.3%, slightly slower than the first quarter's 29.9%. The most notable point in the report is the quarterly picture: on a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong's GDP contracted 0.6% in the second quarter, reversing the previous quarter's 2.9% expansion and marking the economy's first quarterly decline since the third quarter of 2022.
Trading Economics (data from Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department)
Taiwan's economy grew 12.92% in Q2, slowing from the previous quarter's multi-decade high
According to preliminary estimates from Taiwan's statistics office published on Friday 31 July 2026, Taiwan's economy expanded 12.92% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, beating the market expectation of 10.8% but slowing from the first quarter's 14.55%, a multi-decade high. It is the weakest growth reading since the third quarter of 2025. The slowdown came from external demand: growth in exports of goods and services eased to 21.64% from 35.76% in the first quarter, while import growth slowed to 18.27% from 26.34%. Domestic demand strengthened by contrast, with household consumption rising to 5.88% from 4.74% and gross capital formation accelerating to 15.14% from 5.92%, while government spending moderated to 3.22% from 4.06%. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, Taiwan's economy grew 2.39% in the second quarter, up from 1.69% growth in the first. Taiwan is one of the world's main semiconductor manufacturing centres, and its export cycle is treated as a leading indicator of global technology demand.
Trading Economics (data from Taiwan Bureau of Statistics)
Coal's share of China's power generation fell below 50% for the first time
According to data published on Thursday 30 July 2026, coal-fired plants accounted for 49.7% of China's total electricity output in the first half of 2026, the first time the share has fallen below 50%. Coal-fired generation totalled 2.5 trillion kilowatt-hours over the January to June period. Over the same period, renewables made up 41.2% of the country's total power generation. Wind and solar generation exceeded 1.2 trillion kilowatt-hours, close to a quarter of China's total electricity consumption. Combined installed wind and solar capacity reached 1.95 billion kilowatts by the end of June, up 16.8% from a year earlier. A falling share does not mean falling absolute consumption, however: because China's total electricity demand is still growing rapidly, the country's overall coal consumption could still rise this year. China is the world's largest energy consumer and a major crude oil buyer, so the composition of its energy mix feeds into global fossil fuel demand.
Xinhua
Singapore manufacturers' confidence fell to 12% in the second quarter, with chemicals at minus 25 on West Asia feedstock disruption
Statistics Singapore reported on Friday, 31 July 2026, that business confidence in the country's manufacturing sector remained positive in the second quarter of 2026 with a net weighted balance of 12%, though down from 17% in the previous survey. The agency said strong global AI related demand continues to support sentiment despite elevated geopolitical and economic uncertainty. The sector breakdown shows a clear split. Precision engineering was the most optimistic at plus 55, driven by semiconductor related equipment demand, and electronics also stayed upbeat at plus 19 on robust AI related semiconductor demand. By contrast chemicals was the weakest at minus 25, attributed to West Asia related feedstock supply disruptions. General manufacturing industries stayed cautious at minus 13 because of rising material, fuel and freight costs. For the third quarter, a net 26% of firms expect output to increase, led by precision engineering, electronics and transport engineering, and most manufacturers anticipate stable employment. Singapore is one of Asia's refining and petrochemical hubs and a leading indicator of world trade, and the negative reading for its chemicals sector is one of the measurable channels through which the West Asia energy disruption is feeding into Asia's industrial supply chain.
Trading Economics (data from Singapore Department of Statistics)
Japan's construction orders rose 2.3% year on year in June, rebounding from a 6.7% decline
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism reported on Friday, 31 July 2026, that the value of the country's construction orders rose 2.3% in June 2026 from June a year earlier. The index fell 6.7% in May, and the Trading Economics forecast for June was a 7% decline, so the reading came in appreciably better than expected. Japan's construction orders growth has averaged 2.95% since 1985, with an all time high of 104.9% in April 2014 and a record low of minus 42.8% in July 2009. Japanese housing data published the same day showed housing starts rose 18.6% year on year in June. Construction orders are a leading indicator of demand for steel, cement and building materials, and their rebound in the world's third largest economy bears on regional demand for those commodities, which matters to steel and mining product exporters across Asia.
Trading Economics (data from Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)
JERA, the world's largest LNG buyer, says Japan's stocks are sufficient to October with no risk of summer power shortages
JERA, the world's largest buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and Japan's biggest purchaser of the fuel, told media on Friday, 31 July 2026, that it has secured sufficient stocks for the peak summer demand season from August to October and that there is no risk to stable power supply during the peak air conditioning period. The report was carried by Channel News Asia. A company executive said JERA has significantly reduced its LNG purchases from Qatar and will cover winter supply through its global trading division. Japan is one of the most energy import dependent countries in the world and previously sourced much of its oil and gas from West Asia. War related disruption to export flows has pushed the country to secure alternatives, most of which have come from the United States. Last month JERA signed a 20 year LNG supply contract with Malaysia's Petronas, with deliveries starting in 2028 and volumes of 2 million tons a year. Malaysia is Japan's second largest LNG supplier after Australia. The company last year also announced plans to triple its purchases from the United States alone to as much as 5.5 million tons annually. Japanese utilities were forced earlier this year to ramp up coal fired generation to maintain security of electricity supply.
OilPrice.com, citing CNA
Chinese Steel Rebar Prices Hit Their Lowest Since October 2025 as Tangshan Mill Losses Passed 100 Yuan a Tonne
Steel rebar futures in China fell to around 3,010 yuan a tonne, their lowest level since October 2025. According to Trading Economics on Friday, 31 July 2026, widening losses at Chinese steel mills and a deteriorating industry outlook continued to weigh on the market. Industry data showed that average losses at steel mills in Tangshan have passed 100 yuan a tonne and are expected to keep widening, leaving the sector likely to remain under pressure next month. China's prolonged property downturn has also curbed steel demand, as construction accounts for roughly one third of the country's steel consumption and the bulk of rebar usage. Investors are awaiting the outcome of the Politburo meeting in Beijing, where policymakers are widely expected to refrain from announcing major new stimulus and instead focus on implementing existing fiscal policies to support the slowing economy. The benchmark steel price was recorded at 2,993 yuan a tonne on 31 July, down 1.74% over one month and 6.85% compared with a year earlier.
Trading Economics
Japan Housing Starts Rose 18.6% Year on Year in June, Slower Than May but Above Expectations
Data from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism released on Friday, 31 July 2026 showed that the number of new housing units started in Japan rose 18.6% year on year in June 2026. That marks a sharp slowdown from the 33.9% growth recorded the previous month, but it still came in well above the 12.8% economists had expected. In the same release, the value of Japanese construction orders rose 2.3% year on year in June 2026, after a 6.7% decline the month before. In absolute terms, Japanese housing starts totalled 57,877 units in May 2026, down from 62,569 units in April. The long-run average for the series since 1960 is about 96,914 units a month.
Trading Economics
Yen jumps overnight from 162.8 to 157 per dollar as Japan's finance minister declines to confirm intervention
The Japanese yen strengthened suddenly and significantly against the dollar on Thursday night, 30 July 2026. According to The Japan Times, at around 10:30 p.m. Thursday Tokyo time the currency moved from 162.80 to the 157 mark against the dollar in a matter of about an hour. As of noon on Friday, 31 July 2026, the yen was trading at around 160.70. No official confirmation of a possible intervention was made, and Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama declined to comment on Friday on whether the government had acted. Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute, wrote in a report released Friday that given such a sharp currency move over a short period without any major news drivers, it is natural to assume that financial authorities intervened in the market. U.S. authorities reportedly also conducted a rate check, which is widely seen as a precursor to an intervention. The yen broke through 163 to the dollar last week, a four decade low, partly due to escalating tensions in West Asia that prompted safe haven dollar buying. Analysts expect the effect of any intervention to be short lived: a $73 billion intervention that began in late April briefly pushed the currency back to around 155, but those gains vanished within a month.
The Japan Times
South Korea's Kospi posts its largest one-day jump on record, rebounding 14% after a three-day slide
South Korea's stock market staged its sharpest reversal on record on Friday, 31 July 2026. According to CNBC, citing LSEG data, the benchmark Kospi surged about 14%, its largest one-day jump ever, and closed the day at 6,373 points. SK Hynix also saw a record rebound, while Samsung Electronics soared. The rebound followed a powerful overnight rally in U.S. technology stocks, driven by better than expected earnings from Microsoft, Amazon and Meta that reinforced expectations that spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure remains robust. Additional support came after SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won disclosed purchases of SK Hynix shares, bolstering market confidence. Jung In Yun of Fibonacci Asset Management said the day's move looked mainly like a violent reversal of an extremely crowded selloff and that he does not expect gains of this magnitude to continue. Despite the final-day jump, the Kospi ends July down about 23%.
CNBC
Japan's Eneos buys a rare Canadian crude cargo, the first such purchase by a Japanese company since 2025
Eneos, Japan's biggest refiner, has bought a rare cargo of Canadian crude oil as the country seeks to diversify its supply sources and reduce its dependence on West Asian oil. According to a Reuters report carried on Thursday 30 July 2026, citing ship tracking data from Kpler and LSEG, this is the first Canadian oil shipment bought by a Japanese company since 2025. The same data show the cargo was loaded on an Aframax tanker with a capacity of 750,000 barrels, with Exxon as the seller. Richard Ro, a senior analyst at Kpler, told Reuters that Japan's renewed purchases of Trans Mountain pipeline crude highlight Canada's growing role in Asia's import strategy as refiners diversify away from Persian Gulf supplies. Canada exports oil to Asian markets via the Trans Mountain pipeline to the coast of British Columbia, and since 2024 the pipeline has been operating at double its capacity of 890,000 barrels per day. Before the war Japan sourced more than 90% of its crude from West Asian producers, and since the war began it has been actively seeking alternative suppliers including the United States and Russia. India, Malaysia and Singapore are also buying Alberta crude. According to Reuters, as much as 77% of total oil exports from the port of Vancouver have gone to Asia since the start of this year, compared with 51% in 2024. Trans Mountain Corp said earlier this year it has plans to raise the pipeline's capacity, potentially to 1.2 million barrels per day.
OilPrice.com, citing Reuters
After CXMT's 466% surge in Shanghai, analysts point to its technology gap with the memory giants
Shares in Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) surged nearly 466% on their trading debut on the Shanghai exchange on Monday 27 July 2026. The company had sought to raise up to $9.8 billion in its initial public offering, and the sharp gain fuelled optimism that Beijing's years long push for self sufficiency in semiconductors is beginning to pay off. However, in analysis published on Friday 31 July, analysts said what will determine the company's fate is not investor enthusiasm but its ability to narrow the technology gap with Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron, particularly in high bandwidth memory (HBM), the backbone of AI processing. David Gibson of MST Financial said the listing does not change the outlook for the big three or the industry, because demand continues to exceed supply for everyone. CXMT does not have access to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines and, according to Gibson, needs about 30% more wafers than its competitors to produce the same amount of memory. MS Hwang of Counterpoint Research said the company is targeting HBM production from the end of 2026, and its initial products are likely to be HBM3 or HBM3E, leaving it one to two generations behind rivals already moving toward HBM4 and HBM4E.
CNBC
Bank of Japan holds its policy rate at 1% in an 8 to 1 vote and warns core inflation will top 2%
The Bank of Japan left its short-term policy rate unchanged at 1% on Friday, 31 July 2026, keeping borrowing costs at their highest level since September 1995 after a 25 basis point hike in June. The decision was approved by an 8 to 1 vote, with board member Hajime Takata dissenting and calling for a hike to 1.25%. In its quarterly outlook, the bank warned that core inflation is likely to run clearly above its 2% target from the second half of fiscal 2026, citing wage increases being passed into selling prices, higher crude oil prices and the recent depreciation of the yen. Even so, it cut its fiscal 2026 core inflation forecast to 2.5% from 2.8% and raised its growth projection for that year to 0.6% from 0.5%. For fiscal 2027 it lifted core inflation to 2.4% from 2.3% and trimmed growth to 0.8% from 0.9%. Reports indicated that Tokyo intervened in the currency market on Thursday night, 30 July. The yen, which had been trading around 163 per dollar, strengthened to as much as 157.96. The 10 year Japanese government bond yield remains at about 2.8%, and Japan's core inflation for July came in at 1.6%.
CNBC
Australia's producer price inflation rose to 3.6% in the second quarter of 2026, the highest since the first quarter of 2025
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Friday 31 July 2026 that the country's producer price index rose 3.6% year on year in the second quarter of 2026. That follows a 3.0% increase in the first quarter and is the highest rate of Australian producer price inflation since the first quarter of 2025. The market had expected 2.5%. On a quarterly basis, producer prices rose 1.3% in the second quarter, after 0.4% in the first quarter and against a market forecast of 0.3%. Australia is one of the world's largest exporters of iron ore, coal and liquefied natural gas, and rising production costs there are one of the channels through which this year's energy shock is passing into the raw materials supply chain.
Trading Economics
South Korea's industrial output jumped 6.4% in June from May
Statistics Korea reported on Thursday 30 July 2026 that South Korea's industrial production rose 6.4% in June 2026 from the previous month. The May figure was a revised decline of 2.9%, and the market had expected a 3.0% increase. On an annual basis, South Korean industrial output grew 5.8% in June, after a 1.1% fall in May and against a market expectation of 2.5%. Retail sales also rose 2.7% month on month in June, up from 0.1% in May. South Korea is one of the world's largest exporters of chips and intermediate goods. The rebound in its industrial output after May's decline, alongside the sharp rally in Asian chipmaker shares in recent days, points to an improving technology demand cycle in Asia.
Trading Economics
Japan's industrial output rose 4.2% year on year in June, the strongest in nearly four years
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said in a preliminary estimate published on Thursday 30 July 2026 that industrial production rose 4.2% year on year in June 2026. That is the strongest annual gain in Japanese industrial output in nearly four years, against a 2.1% decline in May. The market had expected a 1.8% rise. On a monthly basis, industrial production increased 1.3% in June, after 0.1% in May and against a market forecast of 0.7%. The final reading for June is due on 17 August. The figures landed alongside a 4.1% monthly fall in retail sales for the same month, painting a two-sided picture of the Japanese economy: manufacturing recovering while household consumption weakens.
Trading Economics
Japan's retail sales fell 4.1% in June from May, the steepest monthly drop since April 2021
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) reported that retail sales rose 0.5% year on year in June 2026, slowing sharply from a downwardly revised 5.0% increase the previous month and missing market expectations of 3.1%. It was the fourth straight month of growth but the softest since February. The data was published on Thursday 30 July 2026. Among categories, only automobiles (up 16.6%) and clothing and personal goods (up 14.8%) grew. Turnover fell for fuel (down 3.3%), machinery and equipment (down 1.7%), department stores (down 1.1%), other retail goods (down 0.7%), food and beverages (down 0.5%), non-store retail (down 0.4%) and pharmaceuticals and cosmetics (down 0.2%). On a monthly basis retail sales fell 4.1%, the first monthly decline in four months and the steepest drop since April 2021. The figures suggest Japanese household consumption has lost momentum under persistent inflation and cautious spending.
Trading Economics
China's official non-manufacturing PMI fell to 49.0 in July as construction dropped to 47.0
China's National Bureau of Statistics reported on Friday 31 July 2026 that the country's official non-manufacturing PMI fell to 49.0 in July. The index stood at 50.2 in June and markets had expected it to hold flat. The reading marks a return to contraction after two months of modest expansion. The services business activity index declined to 49.3 from 50.4, while the construction index dropped to 47.0 from 49.0. Within services, postal and telecommunications, broadcasting, and culture and entertainment stayed strong with activity indices above 55.0, while capital market services and real estate remained in contraction. The new orders index fell to 44.4 from 48.0, with construction down to 40.1 from 46.3 and services easing to 45.2 from 48.4. On prices, input costs were unchanged at 49.7 while selling prices slipped to 47.9 from 48.4. Employment edged down to 45.4 from 45.8, though business expectations improved slightly to 55.4 from 55.3. Weakness in Chinese construction matters for steel and iron ore, since the country's building demand is one of the main drivers of world prices for those commodities.
Trading Economics