Macroeconomics

1. [LPR] Authorized by the People's Bank of China, the National Interbank Funding Center announced the Loan Prime Rates (LPR) for August 20, 2026: the 1-year LPR stands at 3.00%, and the LPR for tenors of more than five years stands at 3.50%. Both rates remain unchanged from the previous month and will remain in effect until the next scheduled release.

2. [Excavators] According to the China Construction Machinery Association, sales of excavators of all types totaled 19,521 units in July 2026, a year-on-year increase of 13.9%. Of this total, domestic sales reached 7,608 units (including 41 electric excavators), up 4.13% year-on-year, while exports totaled 11,913 units (including 62 electric excavators), up 21.2% year-on-year. From January to July 2026, total excavator sales reached 171,841 units, a year-on-year increase of 24.8%. Specifically, domestic sales amounted to 86,633 units (including 227 electric excavators), up 18.8% year-on-year, and exports totaled 85,208 units (including 197 electric excavators), up 31.7% year-on-year.

3. [US Treasuries] On August 19, the US Treasury Department announced it would expand the scale of liquidity-support repurchase operations for long-term nominal coupon-bearing Treasuries (specifically the 10-year and 30-year issues), raising the per-operation cap from the previous $2 billion to at least $4 billion. This adjustment takes effect on September 9 (local time) and will remain in place through the end of the quarter (November 4, 2026).

4. [UK CPI] The UK's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.9% year-on-year in July, up from 2.6% in June and marking the highest level since March of this year; rising energy bills were the primary driver. Core CPI growth remained unchanged at 2.6% year-on-year—holding steady for the third consecutive month—while services inflation eased from 3.6% in June to 3.4%.

5. [Japan Imports/Exports] Japan's exports rose 23.2% year-on-year in July, exceeding the expected 20.1% and the previous figure of 19.3%; imports increased by 27.8% year-on-year, surpassing the expected 25.1% and the previous figure of 25.4%.

Non-Ferrous Metal

1. [Lead] It is reported that medium-sized primary lead smelters in Northeast China plan to undergo scheduled maintenance lasting one month. During this period, all electrolytic lead production lines will be shut down, affecting lead output by approximately 9,000 tonnes.

2. [Lead & Zinc] Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that in July, China's lead output stood at 580,000 tonnes (down 7.3% year-on-year), while zinc output was 629,000 tonnes (down 0.8% year-on-year). For the January–July period, cumulative lead output reached 4.135 million tonnes (down 7.2% year-on-year), and zinc output totaled 4.379 million tonnes (up 4.2% year-on-year).

3. [Copper] Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that China's output of copper products in July 2026 was 2.072 million tonnes, down 2.8% year-on-year; cumulative output for January–July was 14.018 million tonnes, down 0.8% year-on-year. Refined copper (electrolytic copper) output in July was 1.285 million tonnes, up 1.3% year-on-year; cumulative output for January–July was 8.883 million tonnes, up 4.6% year-on-year.

4. [Aluminum] Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that China's alumina output in July 2026 was 7.835 million tonnes, up 5.2% year-on-year; electrolytic aluminum output was 3.896 million tonnes, up 3.8% year-on-year; aluminum alloy output was 1.646 million tonnes, up 9.7% year-on-year; and aluminum product output was 5.566 million tonnes, up 1.4% year-on-year.

5. [Bauxite] According to Metro Mining's official website, 700,000 wet tonnes of bauxite were shipped in July 2026. Operations at its offshore floating terminal, Ikamba, were suspended on July 20 to replace four large hydraulic cylinders on Crane No. 1; the terminal resumed operations on July 27 and returned to full capacity on July 30. Metro Mining's planned annual shipment volume for 2026 remains unchanged at 6.6–7.1 million wet tonnes.

SunSirs has been continuously tracking price data for over 200 commodities for nearly 20 years, please contact support@sunsirs.com for subscription.