Secondary Aluminum PMI Falls to 27.9% in Feb, Expected Rebound in March

The Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference. Regarding the upcoming sixth round of China-U.S. economic and trade consultations, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yongqian stated that China and the United States have maintained communication at various levels through the China-U.S. economic and trade consultation mechanism. China expects to work with the United States to jointly and earnestly implement and uphold the consensus reached during the meeting between the two heads of state in Busan and their recent phone call, adhere to the principle of equal consultation, properly handle differences, further expand practical cooperation areas.

US January PPI data showed a YoY increase of 2.9%, exceeding market expectations of 2.6% and close to the previous value of 3%. MoM, it rose 0.5%, also surpassing expectations of 0.3%, with the prior figure revised from 0.5% to 0.4%. For core PPI, the January YoY increase reached 3.6%, hitting a near one-year high, above expectations of 3% and the prior 3.3%. MoM, it rose 0.8%, significantly exceeding market expectations of 0.3%, with the previous figure revised from 0.7% to 0.6%.

Federal Reserve Governor Mi Lan strongly advocates for implementing significant interest rate cuts as early as possible. In his view, there is currently no strong actual price pressure in the economy, and the maintenance of high interest rates is largely due to the unique nature of inflation measurement methods. Mi Lan reiterated that interest rates need to be cut by 100 basis points by 2026, emphasizing that such actions should be taken sooner rather than later to effectively hedge against potential economic downside risks in advance.