Maersk to Impose Peak Season Surcharge on China-Cambodia Route

Short news quick reads 26/11/2024

Goldman Sachs: Lowers China’s GDP Growth Forecast to 4.5%

Recently, Goldman Sachs held a media briefing on the macroeconomic and capital market outlook for 2025. Goldman Sachs’ Chief China Economist, Shan Hui, stated that under the baseline scenario, the bank expects China’s real GDP growth to slow from 4.9% this year to 4.5% next year. It is also anticipated that China will significantly cut interest rates by 40 basis points and increase the broad fiscal deficit ratio by 1.8 percentage points in 2025.

South African Reserve Bank Announces 25 Basis Point Rate Cut

The South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) recently announced a 25 basis point cut to the benchmark interest rate, bringing it down to 7.75%. This follows a previous 25 basis point cut on September 19, which lowered the rate to 8%. SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago stated that the decision was based on a slight improvement in short-term inflation.

Brazil’s October Trade Surplus Narrows by 52.7% Year-on-Year

According to Brazil’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, the country recorded a trade surplus of $4.343 billion in October, a 52.7% decrease compared to the same period in 2023. This is the worst October surplus since the $4.095 billion recorded in October 2017. From January to October this year, Brazil’s total trade surplus reached $63.022 billion, down 22% from the same period in 2023.

South Korea’s Exports Grow 5.8% Year-on-Year in First 20 Days of November

Data from the Korea Customs Service shows that exports grew by 5.8% year-on-year in the first 20 days of November, a significant improvement from the 0.2% decline reported for the entire month of October. Imports slightly decreased by 1%, resulting in a trade surplus of $798 million. The chip and shipbuilding industries performed notably well, helping to alleviate the slowdown in export growth.

Dutch Consumer Confidence Index Falls to -25 in November

The Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics reported that the consumer confidence index fell to -25 in November, down from -22 in October, and well below the 20-year average of -10. The economic climate sub-index also worsened to -43. Although the willingness to buy index remained at October’s level of -14, consumers’ assessments of the current and future economic situation declined.

U.S. E-commerce Sales Grow 7.5% Year-on-Year in Q3

According to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, unadjusted e-commerce sales reached $288.8 billion in the third quarter, up 2.2% quarter-on-quarter and 7.5% year-on-year. This growth rate is significantly higher than the 2.2% increase in total retail sales, indicating consumers’ continued preference for online shopping. E-commerce accounted for 15.6% of the $1.8 trillion in total retail sales, up from 14.8% in the same period last year and exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

Shopify Japan Launches 1 Yen Shipping Promotion

Shopify Japan announced a promotion running from November 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, offering a 1 yen shipping fee for the first 10 invoices purchased through “Plus Shipping.” Shopify Japan also announced a partnership with Leap to further expand domestic and international shipping services, supporting collaboration among e-commerce businesses.

Maersk to Impose Peak Season Surcharge on China-Cambodia Route

Danish shipping giant Maersk announced it will impose a Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) on dry and refrigerated containers originating from eastern Chinese ports (including Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Fuzhou, and the Yangtze River region) and destined for Cambodia’s Sihanoukville Port. A surcharge of $500 per container will be applied to all types of dry and refrigerated containers, including 45-foot containers.

Hangzhou Launches First Direct All-Cargo Flight to the UK

A cargo flight carrying 103 tons of cross-border e-commerce goods recently departed from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport for East Midlands Airport in Derby, UK, marking the official launch of the “Hangzhou-Derby” all-cargo route. This is the fifth new international all-cargo route launched by Hangzhou Airport this year and the first all-cargo route from Zhejiang Province to the UK.

U.S. Department of Justice Calls for Google to Sell Chrome Browser

The U.S. Department of Justice recently submitted a document to the court recommending that a federal judge order Google to sell its Chrome browser and prevent it from re-entering the browser market for five years. The document also calls for restrictions to prevent Google’s Android mobile operating system from favoring its search engine.

NIO’s Q3 Total Revenue Declines 2.1% Year-on-Year

NIO recently announced that its total revenue for the third quarter of 2024 was 18.6735 billion yuan ($2.661 million), down 2.1% from the third quarter of 2023 and up 7.0% from the second quarter of 2024. The adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2024 was 4.4126 billion yuan ($628.8 million), an increase of 11.6% from the third quarter of 2023 and a decrease of 2.7% from the second quarter of 2024.

New Version of Siri in Development

Apple is developing a new version of its Siri digital assistant with enhanced conversational capabilities. This new version, which has not yet been publicly detailed, uses a more advanced large language model (LLM) to enable two-way conversations and can process more complex requests more quickly. The new voice assistant will be integrated into Apple Intelligence and is referred to by developers as “LLM Siri.”