LME Aluminum Inventory Drops to 264,400 mt, Down 1.9% in a Day and 12.39% in a Month

According to the latest production schedule report from ChinaIOL for household air conditioners, the domestic sales production schedule for August 2026 stands at 5.87 million units, down 24.1% compared to actual domestic sales in the same period last year. The production schedule figure was slightly revised down again from the earlier estimate. Entering August and September, most compressor and air conditioner enterprises are about to begin equipment maintenance and factory vacations. Affected by the holidays, production schedule volumes were trimmed to varying degrees. On the channel side, inventory is high, and dealers show weak willingness to restock. With the weakening start of the cooling season, the practice of restocking and pushing inventory is becoming difficult to sustain.

Toyota's global sales in H1 were 5.3905 million units, down 2.8% YoY, marking the first YoY decline in a year. Among them, sales in the Chinese market fell 17.1% in H1 to 694,700 units.

US Q2 GDP initial estimate grew at an annualized QoQ rate of 1.5%, below Q1's 2.1% and market expectations. Consumer spending and investment both remained strong, but net exports declined, dragging down the overall data. The US core PCE price index rose 0.1% MoM in June, up 3.3% YoY, pulling back from May. The overall PCE price index fell 0.1% MoM in June, turning negative for the first time since the pandemic outbreak in 2020.