The European Commission has approved a €500 million state aid scheme for Luxembourg to support the manufacturing of clean technologies, including solar, wind, and batteries. Operating under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework ('CISAF'), the initiative will provide direct grants to local companies until December 2030. This marks the first 'CISAF' scheme for a small Member State. The funding aims to expand local capacity, boosting efforts by companies like 'Solarcells', which recently began producing Luxembourg's first domestic solar panels. This follows similar 'CISAF' approvals for Greece (€400 million) and Germany (€3 billion) to accelerate Europe's net-zero transition.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office ('EPPO') is investigating attempted fraud involving EU funds for small solar plants in Slovenia. An unnamed company allegedly broke tender rules by ordering equipment before applying for a €215,265 grant, which was consequently blocked. Investigators found the firm previously secured over €955,275 for four supermarket rooftop projects by falsely claiming a third party supplied the solar panels, instead of providing them itself. Following this, Slovenian police raided properties in Celje to seize evidence. This echoes a similar January 2025 'EPPO' probe into two other Slovenian solar firms. Despite these issues, Slovenia's cumulative solar capacity reached 1.57 GW last year after adding 146.5 MW.

On March 24, construction officially commenced on the 100kt-per-year deep-processing project for aluminum veneer panels in Tianlin County at the Guiqian (Tianlin) Economic Industrial Park. The project is invested in and developed by Guangxi Zhuoyuan Aluminum Technology Co., Ltd., with a total investment of 1 billion yuan, and is a comprehensive production site for construction-grade aluminum integrating R&D and manufacturing. The project will be built in two phases: Phase I covers about 36 mu and is expected to produce 50kt of aluminum coil annually; after commencing operations, it is expected to generate annual output value of 1.2 billion yuan.

On 9 January, China’s Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration released a new export tax rebate policy. From 1 April 2026, China’s export tax rebates of up to 13% for solar battery panels will be rolled back, while the rebate rate for battery products will be reduced from 9% to 6%. The complete phase-out of tax rebates for the above-listed products is scheduled for 1 January 2027. This policy aims to negate price distortions emerged in overseas battery markets, which have long affected the profit margins of domestic manufacturers.

Precious metals are having a moment. Gold and silver surged to record highs in January, benefiting from an alignment of macroeconomic factors, evolving supply-demand dynamics, and renewed industrial demand.

Silver is having one of its most extraordinary years in modern market history.