Chinese Auto Sales Up 5.6% in August 2026, Reaching 1.853M Units

【SMM Newsflash】National Energy Administration: As of the end of August, the total number of electric vehicle charging facilities (charging points) in China reached 24.223 million, up 39.6% year-on-year. Among them, public charging facilities totaled 5.160 million, up 19.5% year-on-year, with a combined rated power of 262 million kW and an average power of approximately 50.69 kW per charging point. Private charging facilities totaled 19.063 million, up 46.3% year-on-year, with the installed electricity capacity for private charging facilities reaching 163 million kVA.

【SMM Newsflash】U.S. Treasury: It will buy back at least $4 billion and up to $6 billion of long-term Treasury securities on Thursday.

[Pre-holiday stockpiling drives inventory decline, zinc prices consolidate at highs] The most-traded SHFE zinc 2611 contract opened at 26,740 yuan/mt. After the open, SHFE zinc consolidated around the daily average, touching an intraday high of 26,855 yuan/mt in early trading and a low of 26,690 yuan/mt during the session, before closing up 50 yuan/mt, or 0.19%, at 26,760 yuan/mt. Trading volume increased to 72,614 lots, and open interest rose by 2,140 lots to 148,000 lots.