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Published: Sep 5, 2026 16:12 Volkswagen's Management Board has decided to shut down production at four German plants, with the Emden and Zwickau plants planned to cease production in 2031, the Hanover plant in 2032, and the Neckarsulm plant in 2034. Meanwhile, Volkswagen Group expects its global sales for the full year 2026 to fall to approximately 8.5 million units.

Published: Sep 5, 2026 16:13 Preliminary data from Eurostat showed that inflationary pressures in the eurozone rebounded somewhat in August, with CPI up 3.3% YoY, a new high since September 2023, while core CPI rose 2.4% YoY, pulling back slightly from 2.5% in July. As a result, the market has fully priced in expectations of a 25-basis-point rate hike by the European Central Bank next week and anticipates further hikes thereafter.

Published: Sep 5, 2026 16:11 China’s automakers released their August sales reports. BYD remained far ahead with over 440,000 units, up nearly 18% YoY. Leap Motor held steady at 100,000 monthly deliveries, continuing to lead the emerging automakers by a wide margin. Xiaomi, XPeng, Li Auto, Zeekr, and NIO all stayed in the 30,000–40,000 delivery range. Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA) delivered 42,100 units, edging down YoY.

Published: Sep 5, 2026 16:08 According to preliminary statistics from the China Passenger Car Association, retail sales of passenger vehicles in China reached 1.626 million units in August, down 19% YoY and up 11% MoM. Among them, retail sales of passenger NEVs reached 1.069 million units, down 4% YoY and up 12% MoM.

Published: Sep 5, 2026 16:07 At the 2026 World Power Battery Conference, a representative from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) introduced the development of China's power battery industry. From January to July this year, the industry maintained a strong growth trend, with cumulative sales reaching 790.4 GWh, up 37.1% YoY.

Published: Sep 5, 2026 16:06 The Thai government has suspended construction of 49 data center projects as it prepares new industry regulations, which are expected to be announced within a month. Despite this, Thailand still approved 88 AI- and data center-related projects in H1 2026, with a total investment of 886 billion baht (about $27 billion).

Published: Sep 5, 2026 16:04 US Treasury Secretary Bessent noted that the current rise in oil prices and bond yields are historically highly correlated. He predicts that once the Iran conflict ends and the situation eases, the global oil market will face severe oversupply, and oil prices could plunge to $40-50 per barrel, at which point bond yields and inflation will also pull back in tandem, reversing the aforementioned high correlation.

Published: Sep 5, 2026 16:01 US nonfarm payrolls increased by 162,000 in August on a seasonally adjusted basis, the highest since March and far exceeding market expectations of 56,000. Combined job gains for June and July were revised up by 55,000, and the unemployment rate held at a low of 4.1% in August.

Published: Sep 5, 2026 09:10 SMM, September 5: In the metals market: Overnight, base metals on both domestic and overseas markets showed mixed performance. LME zinc led the gains with a 1.1% increase, SHFE zinc rose 0.97%, SHFE nickel closed flat at 128,040 yuan/mt, LME aluminum led the declines with a 0.65% drop, and the remaining metals saw relatively small fluctuations in their % changes. The alumina main contract rose 0.44%, while the cast aluminum main contract fell 0.21%.

Published: Sep 4, 2026 15:26 SMM, September 4: The most-traded SHFE aluminum 2610 contract closed at 24,290 yuan/mt today, up 15 yuan on the day, a gain of 0.06%. Trading volume was 151,835 lots, and open interest was 254,755 lots, down 2,092 lots on the day. After the rapid rise, both bulls and bears reduced positions to lock in gains. Prices held above the 5-day, 10-day, 30-day, and 60-day moving averages.