Macroeconomics

1. [Foreign Exchange] The People's Bank of China announced that, effective March 2, 2026, the foreign exchange risk reserve ratio for forward foreign exchange sales will be lowered from 20% to 0 to promote the development of the foreign exchange market and support enterprises in managing exchange rate risks. The central bank will continue to guide financial institutions to optimize exchange rate hedging services for enterprises and maintain the RMB exchange rate basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level.

2. [Bonds] According to publicly released bond issuance information from local finance departments, as of February 25, the issuance scale of local government bonds nationwide has exceeded 2 trillion RMB. Therefore, the issuance scale of local government bonds in the first two months of this year (approximately 2.28 trillion RMB) is expected to increase by 22% compared to the same period last year.

3. [Federal Reserve] Federal Reserve Governor Milan reiterated that despite improvements in the labor market, a 100 basis point rate cut is still expected in 2026, and he favors acting sooner rather than later.

4. [Bank of Japan] Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda stated that the central bank will carefully study the data at its March and April meetings to decide whether to raise interest rates, leaving open the possibility of a near-term rate hike. If Japan makes progress in achieving its economic and price forecasts, the central bank will continue to raise interest rates.

Building Materials

1. [Corrugated Paper] Nine Dragons Paper's Tianjin base will have its PM26 machine shut down for 7 days from March 1st to March 7th, affecting corrugated paper.

2. [White Cardboard] Liansheng Pulp & Paper (Zhangzhou) Co., Ltd.: Effective March 1st, the price of its blue-leaf coated white cardboard products will be uniformly increased by 200 RMB/ton. Furthermore, to optimize service quality and improve product quality, the company will conduct annual maintenance shutdowns on PM1/PM2 machines from March 1st to March 12th, 2026.

Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Co., Ltd.: Effective March 1st, the price of all white cardboard series (including coated cardboard and food-grade cardboard) products will be increased by 200 RMB/ton.

Asia Pulp & Paper (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.: Effective March 1st, the price of all brands of social cardboard and food-grade cardboard at the Jiangsu base will be uniformly increased by RMB 200/ton (including tax).

3. [Glass] Anhui Flat Glass Fengyang Base Phase IV, Kiln No. 4 (one kiln, 6 production lines, designed capacity 1,600 tons/day) was ignited and put into operation on the morning of February 25th.

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