Macroeconomics

1. [PMI] According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in December, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was 50.1%, an increase of 0.9 percentage points from the previous month, rising into the expansion range; the Non-manufacturing Business Activity Index was 50.2%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points from the previous month, returning to the expansion range. The composite PMI output index was 50.7%, an increase of 1.0 percentage points from the previous month, indicating that my country's enterprise production and operation activities generally expanded compared to the previous month.

2. [Total Social Logistics] According to the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing, from January to November, the total social logistics volume nationwide was 331.2 trillion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 5.0% at comparable prices, with a 4.5% increase in November.

3. [Federal Reserve] The minutes of the Federal Reserve's December meeting showed that the FOMC agreed to cut interest rates at the December meeting, but officials were sharply divided. Some participants indicated that, based on their economic outlook, it might be necessary to keep the target interest rate range unchanged for some time after lowering the interest rate range at this meeting. The minutes also showed that if inflation gradually declines as expected, most officials believe that further interest rate cuts would be appropriate. The committee members unanimously agreed that reserve balances have fallen to a sufficient level, and the committee will begin purchasing short-term Treasury bonds as needed to continuously maintain sufficient reserve supply. They also agreed to remove the overall limit on standing repurchase operations.

Building Materials

1. [Paper] Canadian White Birch Paper Company has decided to permanently close its FF Soucy paper mill located in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, Canada. The mill has two paper machines and can produce approximately 265,000 metric tons of newsprint and specialty paper annually.

2. [Wastepaper] On December 30th, Zhejiang Shaoxing Huayu Paper lowered its wastepaper purchase price by 30 RMB/ton. The adjusted price, excluding VAT, is 1,660 RMB/ton at the factory gate.

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