Macroeconomics

1. [Electricity Consumption] The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced that on July 10, national electricity load hit a record high of 1.518 billion kilowatts, an increase of 10 million kilowatts over the previous peak. Since the start of summer, the Southern Regional Power Grid and multiple provincial grids—including those in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Ningxia, Gansu, Fujian, and Shaanxi—have seen their electricity loads set new historical records on more than 20 occasions.

2. [Automobiles] The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released data showing that from July 1 to 5, national retail sales of passenger cars totaled 169,000 units—down 15% year-on-year but up 4% compared to the same period last month. Cumulative retail sales for the year reached 8.87 million units, a year-on-year decline of 20%. During the same period, retail sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) totaled 103,000 units—down 9% year-on-year and down 6% compared to the same period last month—with cumulative sales for the year reaching 4.807 million units (down 14% year-on-year). The retail penetration rate for NEVs stood at 60.5% during this period.

3. [US-Iran Conflict] U.S. Central Command announced on social media on the 12th that, at 5:00 PM U.S. Eastern Time that day, U.S. forces launched a new round of strikes against Iran aimed at "further degrading its ability to attack commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz."

4. [Japan Interest Rates] The Bank of Japan plans to keep interest rates unchanged in July but will maintain its policy guidance, committing to continue the process of raising rates.

Plastics and Rubber

1. [PP] Quanzhou Guoheng’s PP production facilities, with a total annual capacity of 450,000 tons, were shut down for maintenance on April 5; a restart is expected on July 15.

Sinopec-SK (Wuhan) Petrochemical’s three PP production lines, with a combined annual capacity of 700,000 tons, are undergoing maintenance: Line 1 entered maintenance on July 9 and is expected to resume operations on the 17th, while Lines 2 and 3 were shut down for maintenance on June 6 and are expected to restart successively in mid-July.

2. [PE] Dushanzi Petrochemical has initiated a scheduled maintenance shutdown for one of its low-pressure polyethylene (PE) units (annual capacity: 300,000 tons); the maintenance period runs from July 9 to July 11.

3. [HDPE] During this period (July 3–9), the volume of PE production lost due to unit maintenance totaled approximately 128,700 tons, a decrease of 11,600 tons compared to the previous period.

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