Macroeconomics

1. [China-Canada Automotive Cooperation] Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a new electric vehicle strategy on February 5th, including restarting purchase subsidies, and stated that Canada will cooperate with China to promote the domestic production and export of electric vehicles.

2. [Imports and Exports] Data released by the Ministry of Commerce shows that in 2025, my country's total service trade imports and exports reached 80,823.1 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%, and the service trade deficit decreased by 3,439.5 billion RMB. Travel services grew rapidly, with imports and exports reaching 22,067 billion RMB, an increase of 7.6%.

3. [US Initial Jobless Claims] The number of initial jobless claims in the US last week was 231,000, compared to an estimated 212,000 and a previous value of 209,000. The number of continuing jobless claims in the US for the week ending January 24th was 1.844 million, compared to an estimated 1.85 million.

4. [European Central Bank Interest Rates] On February 5th, the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged for the fifth consecutive time at its monetary policy meeting, in line with market expectations. The three key interest rates remain unchanged: the deposit facility rate is 2.00%, the main refinancing rate is 2.15%, and the marginal lending rate is 2.40%.

5. [Bank of England Interest Rates] On Thursday, the Bank of England, as expected, kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.75%, but also stated that if wage growth slows and helps curb inflation, further interest rate cuts may still be possible in the future.

Building Materials

1. [Paper] Recently, Guangxi Xiongfu Paper Co., Ltd.'s PM1 successfully started operation. The PM1 paper machine has an annual production capacity of 230,000 tons and is an important part of Guangxi Xiongfu Paper's 500,000-ton high-grade specialty paper project.

2. [Paper] Zhongshan United Hongxing Paper Co., Ltd. was shut down for maintenance from February 4th to February 24th during the Spring Festival, a total of 20 days; Zhongshan Yongfa Paper Co., Ltd. and Yudu County Zhengyi Paper Products Co., Ltd. were shut down for maintenance from February 12th to February 24th during the Spring Festival, a total of 12 days.

Nine Dragons Paper Dongguan Base: PM18 machine was shut down for 15 days from February 9th to February 23rd, involving corrugated paper; PM19 machine was shut down for 15 days from February 9th to February 23rd, involving kraft paper.

Guangdong Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Co., Ltd. decided to carry out maintenance on its machines during the Spring Festival: PM9 machine was shut down for 14 days from February 8th to February 21st, involving kraft paper; PM17 machine was shut down for 17 days from February 8th to February 24th, involving coated duplex board.

Shanying Paper Anhui Base: PM06 machine was shut down for 8 days from February 6th to February 13th, involving T-paper.

3. [Pulp] As of February 5th, the inventory of pulp in major Chinese ports was 2.182 million tons, an increase of 13,000 tons compared to the previous period, a month-on-month increase of 0.6%. The inventory continued to increase in this cycle, and the port sample inventory has shown an increasing trend for five consecutive weeks.

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