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U.S. President Trump once again issued a threat to Iran, stating that if action is taken against Iran again, the strikes will be even more severe. Trump also revealed that a large fleet is heading toward Iran and is prepared to carry out missions swiftly. In response to this threat from Trump, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi stated that Iran's armed forces are on high alert and will swiftly and decisively retaliate against any violation of Iran's territory, airspace, or territorial waters.

In response to the impact of low-priced imported vehicles on the domestic automotive industry in recent years, South Africa is considering imposing additional tariffs on complete vehicles imported from China and India, with the maximum rate reaching up to 50%. Data shows that in South Africa's vehicle import market, vehicles imported from China accounted for 53% of the total in 2024, while those from India accounted for 22%.

The US experienced a trade deficit in November 2025 due to declining exports and rising imports, with the deficit reaching $56.8 billion, up approximately 95% MoM. During the month, the export value was $292.1 billion, down 3.6% MoM, while the import value reached $348.9 billion, showing a 5% increase.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) convened a symposium with entrepreneurs in the PV industry, emphasizing that under the current circumstances, the primary challenge in regulating the PV sector lies in "anti-involution." To address this, comprehensive measures are required, including capacity control, price enforcement, and prevention of monopoly risks. Through market-oriented and rule-of-law approaches, collaborative efforts should be made to steer the PV industry toward healthy competition and rational development.

Recently, at Davos, the US Trade Representative informed reporters that prior to a potential meeting between the leaders of China and the United States (or an encounter, understood here as a meeting with no specific timing confirmed), there exists an opportunity for both sides to initiate a new round of economic and trade negotiations. In response, the Ministry of Commerce stated that China is willing to work with the US to make good use of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism, in order to manage differences and promote cooperation.

The General Office of the State Council issued the "Work Plan for Accelerating the Cultivation of New Growth Drivers in Service Consumption," which introduces 12 policy measures across three dimensions: stimulating development vitality in key areas, fostering momentum in potential sectors, and strengthening support mechanisms. The plan explicitly identifies transportation, home services, online audiovisual content, residential tourism, the automotive aftermarket, and inbound consumption as key service consumption sectors.

By the end of 2025, China's new-type energy storage installations had exceeded 130 million kW, an increase of 84% compared to the previous year and more than 40 times higher than at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. In response, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration jointly issued a document to refine the capacity electricity price mechanisms for coal power, gas power, pumped storage, and new-type energy storage, with a particular focus on establishing a corresponding capacity electricity price mechanism for grid-side independent new-type energy storage.

SMS Group Upgrades Hot Rolling Equipment for GARMCO SMS Group has carried out an upgrade for the hot rolling equipment belonging to Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill Company (GARMCO). The upgrade includes motors and drives in a single-stand reversing hot mill originally built by a third-party mill supplier. The project aims to enhance the plant’s operational efficiency and reliability while enabling it to meet future demands of the aluminum processing industry. The scope of the project involves replacing outdated DC motors with three-phase AC motors and cutting-edge drive technology, including a frequency converter system powered by an active front end and a new transformer. Compared to the mill’s original design capacity, the new-type drive system will increase available torque by 20%, restoring the company’s hot rolling mill to full-load operation and positioning it as a facility capable of advancing R&D in aluminum hot rolling. The twin-motor drive system from SMS Group is at the core of the entire equipment upgrade. Key components include a custom gearbox combining two electric motors rated at 2,150 kW each and two SMS mega-torque spindles. Combined with SMS Group’s highly advanced gear design, this drive system concept delivers unique power capabilities, significantly reduces investment costs and space requirements, and allows for a degree of redundancy.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) achieved a milestone in the construction process by injecting scrap metal into its giant smelting furnace. This giant furnace is located within the aluminum recycling plant under construction in Al Taweelah, UAE. The project is expected to be fully completed by the end of Q1 2026. The recycling plant will have an annual capacity of 185,000 mt, making it the largest aluminum scrap recycling facility in the UAE. The new plant will process post-consumer recycled aluminum scrap and aluminum scrap from the production process, mixing it with primary aluminum to produce low-carbon, high-grade aluminum billets and T-bars. Emirates Global Aluminium also introduced a new product series named CelestiAL-R, which blends solar-powered green aluminum with recycled metal, while aluminum semis produced using nuclear power are marketed under the name MinimAL-R.

Indonesia's Aluminum Industry Receives Major Investment! Chinese Company's 10.5 Billion Yuan Aluminum Smelter Project Set to Launch According to a report by Indonesia's KOMPAS, Pasuruan Regency in East Java Province recently witnessed a significant investment development. Chongqing Bosai Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as Bosai Group) plans to invest in the construction of an aluminum project locally, with the investment amount preliminarily finalized at approximately $1.5 billion (about 10.5 billion yuan).

Baitong Energy (001376) announced on the evening of January 27 that, to meet the strategic development needs of the company, it plans to sign an Investment Intent Agreement with the Dande Port Development Company Ltd. of the Republic of Angola through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Beijing Baitong Tuda Aluminum Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tuda Aluminum"). The company intends to invest approximately $400 million using its own and self-raised funds (the final investment amount is subject to approval) and establish a wholly-owned company, Baitong Tuda (Angola) Aluminum Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Angola Baitong"). The business scope of Angola Baitong includes aluminum processing and production (aluminum and its upstream and downstream related industries). The main products of the project include aluminum ingots, among others, with target markets in Europe, the US, China, and other regions with robust demand. Some products will be allocated for domestic consumption in Angola, and the future development trend is favorable.

News from Conakry — On January 26, 2026, Guinean President and Head of State General Mamadi Doumbouya signed a presidential decree, officially announcing the organizational structure of the first government of the Fifth Republic, while also deciding to reappoint Amadou Oury Bah as Prime Minister. The announcement of this government structure marks a crucial step for Guinea as it enters the political system of the Fifth Republic. According to the presidential decree, the new government will consist of 27 ministerial departments and two Secretary General-level bodies, responsible for implementing major reforms and development plans within the new five-year plan cycle.

Recently, as the final batch of finished busbars was loaded and transported from the Industrial Pipeline Branch base of the Installation Company to the Dak Nong project site in Vietnam, the branch successfully achieved its delivery target before the 2026 Chinese New Year for the busbar processing and fabrication tasks of this project, laying a solid foundation for the overall delivery of the project. Faced with stringent technical standards and tight schedule pressures, the project team, guided by Party building, integrated the craftsmanship spirit into the entire production process and innovatively adopted a parallel operation mode to achieve seamless coordination across multiple procedures.

According to foreign media: Egyptalum's newly invested production line with an annual capacity of 60,000 mt has officially commenced operation, which will double the company's aluminum wire production to 120,000 mt per year. This also marks the completion of the first phase of the Nag Hammadi Obelisk Solar Project in Egypt. Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly headed to Egyptalum for an inspection and congratulated the company on the new plant's operation, stating, "The development of Egyptalum is a concrete step in implementing the national political leadership’s directive to modernize the public enterprise industrial sector." Egypt's Minister of Public Business Sector Mohamed Heme added, "The operation of the new production line will help the company enhance product added value and is an important measure to promote the development of Egypt's domestic industrial sector. These new investments will enhance Egyptalum's position and competitiveness in both domestic and international markets. The total investment for this capacity expansion project reached $17.5 million. Equipment was provided in cooperation with Properzi, an Italian specialist manufacturer of aluminum wire casting and wire drawing. Egyptalum is located 100 km north of Luxor. It is Egypt's largest aluminum producer and one of the largest in Africa, with a total annual production capacity of 320,000 mt. 60% of its aluminum products are exported to Europe. The Aswan Dam supplies the company with the necessary e