Albania added an estimated 180 MW to 210 MW of solar capacity in 2025, bringing its total to between 600 MW and 650 MW. The utility-scale sector remains the primary growth engine, with a notable shift toward merchant projects, such as the 50 MW Belsh PV site backed by the EBRD and WBIF. While commercial and industrial (C&I) solar is gaining traction as a price hedge, residential adoption remains the smallest segment. Experts note the market is gradually transitioning from an 'auction-driven' phase to a more 'market-driven' investment environment. Future expansion will depend increasingly on investment bankability, clearer grid connection procedures, corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) frameworks, and energy storage integration.

[SMM Aluminum Express News] Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has entered into an exclusive agreement with American Industrial Partners (AIP) to acquire 100% of Aluminum Dunkerque, Europe's largest primary aluminum smelter, located in Loon-Plage, Dunkerque, France. The site produces ~300,000 tonnes of aluminum per year. Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) will pay the consideration for acquiring Aluminium Dunkerque entirely payable in cash, with funding fully underwritten by a syndicate of relationship banks. Alba has offered a shareholding position to Bpifrance (France's public investment bank) to foster a strategic partnership and support the long-term, sustainable development of the French smelter. Discussions with Bpifrance have started and will continue in the coming days.

The European Investment Bank has provided a loan of 75 million euros to the Austrian aluminum enterprise AMAG Austria Metall AG. This financing represents the first loan issued by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Austria under the European Tech (TechEU) program, which aims to promote industrial innovation in Europe. AMAG will use the loan to advance the digitalization and environmental sustainability upgrades of its production processes at its plant in Upper Austria. As the first loan implemented by the EIB under the TechEU program in Austria, this financing will support AMAG in carrying out a total investment project of 168 million euros between 2025 and 2028.

On Tuesday (June 17), the Bank of Japan (BOJ) stated in its latest monetary policy statement that it would maintain the policy interest rate at 0.5% and planned to slow down the pace of reducing bond purchases in the next fiscal year. In late May, Japanese government bond yields surged to record highs, driven by weak demand from investors for long-term Japanese government bond auctions and high volatility in the global bond market. On May 21, the yield on 30-year Japanese government bonds hit a historic high of 3.2%. At that time, traders noted that this not only reflected market concerns about the global economic outlook but also concerns about the impact of the BOJ's ongoing plan to reduce bond purchases. On Tuesday, the BOJ's Policy Board concluded a two-day meeting. During the meeting, policymakers unanimously voted to keep the short-term interest rate unchanged at 0.5% and to reduce bond purchases at a slower pace starting next year . It is evident that the key focus of this meeting was to adjust the pace. This outcome was also in line with market expectations. Prior to the meeting, Ryutaro Kono, Japan's chief economist at BNP Paribas, pointed out, "The instability in the bond market is not conducive to the implementation of monetary policy. To prudently balance the pace of balance sheet reduction, the BOJ is likely to slow down the pace of reducing bond purchases starting from next spring." Slowing down the pace of balance sheet reduction In March last year, the BOJ abolished its negative interest rate and yield curve control policies, and then decided in July of the same year to reduce the scale of bond purchases, which would continue until March 2026. Specifically, the BOJ will continue to reduce its monthly government bond purchase plan and decrease the scale of quarterly bond purchases by approximately 400 billion yen (approximately $2.8 billion) until March 2026. On Tuesday, the BOJ stated that it would not make any changes to the existing reduction plan . It is estimated that, as of the quarter ending June 2026, the BOJ's monthly bond purchases will amount to 4.1 trillion yen. However, according to the BOJ's plan for the next fiscal year, the bank indicated that it would slow down the reduction pace to 200 billion yen (approximately $1.4 billion) per quarter starting from April 2026 , with the goal of reaching a monthly purchase level of 2.1 trillion yen by March 2027. The BOJ explained that this move aims to "improve the functioning of the Japanese bond market in a manner that supports market stability." On Tuesday, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda held a press conference after the meeting, stating that the bank would appropriately reduce bond purchases in a predictable manner and would respond flexibly if yields rise significantly. Regarding the matter of interest rate hikes, Ueda noted that if the economic outlook aligns with expectations, the central bank will raise interest rates. Investment Bank Perspectives HSBC Global Research pointed out that a monthly bond purchase scale of 2 trillion yen represents a "natural" level, stating that this would be roughly equivalent to the amount of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) the Bank of Japan (BOJ) purchased monthly before introducing its ultra-loose monetary policy in April 2013. Benjamin Shatil, a senior economist at JPMorgan Chase in Tokyo, said, "As the BOJ moves further away from the market and begins to end the liquidity expansion that has lasted for over a decade, the bank is walking a fine line in trying to contain volatility." Shatil added that the BOJ's gradual exit from its ultra-loose monetary policy not only has implications for Japan but also for the global bond market. "The market's focus is increasingly shifting from the BOJ's policy rate normalization path to the pace of its balance sheet reduction," he said. Krishna Bhimavarapu, an Asia-Pacific economist at State Street Global Advisors, believes that the BOJ will not make any changes to its existing tapering plan before the first quarter of next year, marking a small victory for the BOJ "as the market does not seem to need immediate help to cope with the recent surge in long-term JGB yields." Following the BOJ's latest statement at noon, the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.55%, the yen strengthened 0.13% against the US dollar to 144.55, and the 10-year JGB yield climbed 3 basis points to 1.491%.

China Communications Construction Real Estate sold its entire real estate development business in a package deal for 1 yuan. *ST Zhongdi (000736.SZ) released a report (draft) on the material asset sale and related party transaction on June 16, stating that the company intends to transfer the assets and liabilities related to its real estate development business to its controlling shareholder, China Communications Real Estate Group Co., Ltd., at a transaction price of 1 yuan. According to the restructuring draft, the assets to be transferred cover the entire chain of real estate development business, including controlling and participating stakes in real estate development enterprises, corresponding receivables, and liabilities. Additionally, according to the asset appraisal report, as of December 31, 2024, the net book value of the target assets was -3.919 billion yuan, which was appraised at -2.976 billion yuan, representing an appraisal increase of 24.06%. "From the financial data disclosed by China Communications Construction Real Estate, it can be seen that the company is transferring a massive package of negative assets, which explains why the transaction is priced at a symbolic 1 yuan. The core objective is to divest the heavy burden of negative assets," noted Yan Yuejin, Deputy Dean of the E-House China Research Institute. "The 1-yuan pricing is essentially about divesting negative assets," a senior investment banker commented. "To some extent, this is equivalent to the parent company, China Communications Construction Group, providing support to the publicly listed firm by bearing a significant amount of negative assets." Regarding this material asset sale, China Communications Construction Real Estate stated that the real estate development industry, in which the target assets are engaged, has high capital demands and a large scale of liabilities. After the completion of this transaction, the relevant target assets will no longer be included in the consolidated financial statements of the publicly listed firm, which will transition from a "heavy" to a "light" model. It is expected that the total assets and revenue scale of the publicly listed firm will decrease significantly. Industry insiders pointed out that behind this transaction priced at just 1 yuan lies a central state-owned enterprise real estate company deeply mired in losses and on the brink of delisting, undertaking a "drastic" strategic retreat to survive. "In recent years, the real estate market has undergone continuous and profound adjustments, and the real estate development business has dragged down the performance of some publicly listed firms," said Liu Shui, Director of Corporate Research at the China Index Academy. China Communications Construction Real Estate, a central state-owned enterprise, has also been dragged down by its development business, not only incurring losses for two consecutive years but also facing delisting risks. Financial reports show that in 2022, 2023, and 2024, the net profits attributable to the parent company of China Communications Construction Real Estate were 34 million yuan, -1.611 billion yuan, and -5.179 billion yuan, respectively. Alongside the decline in net profit, the sales scale of China Communications Construction Real Estate has also shrunk significantly. In 2022, 2023, and 2024, the sales amounts of China Communications Construction Real Estate were 45.882 billion yuan, 37.3 billion yuan, and 15.64 billion yuan, respectively. Financial data released by the company showed that as of December 31, 2024, CCCC Real Estate had total assets of RMB 107.698 billion and net assets attributable to shareholders of publicly listed firms of -RMB 3.579 billion. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Stock Listing Rules," its shares were subject to delisting risk warnings (*ST) on April 16, 2025. "After two consecutive years of losses, if it cannot completely reverse its fundamentals in the short term, delisting is almost a foregone conclusion. Divesting heavy-asset burdens is a crucial step in winning a breathing space," said the aforementioned investment banker. "Divesting loss-making assets through this transaction will enhance the company's asset quality and create conditions for subsequent transformation and development. This transaction can improve the profitability and sustainable operating capacity of publicly listed firms and mitigate the delisting risks of publicly listed firms," said CCCC Real Estate. After shedding the heavy burden of real estate development, CCCC Real Estate announced that it would shift to "asset-light" operations. CCCC Real Estate stated that before this restructuring, the main business of the publicly listed firm was real estate development and sales. Through this restructuring, it will focus on asset-light businesses such as property services and asset management and operations (including commercial management and self-held property leasing) in the future, achieving a strategic transformation to an asset-light operating model. "Divesting the real estate development business can not only reduce the company's liabilities but also mitigate credit risks associated with the heavy-asset nature of real estate development," Liu Shui believed. Shifting the focus to an asset-light model can achieve higher profit margins and reduce the company's exposure to cyclical risks in the real estate market. However, analysts pointed out that divestment will also lead to a significant reduction in total assets and revenue scale. The key to the company's subsequent performance lies in whether the new asset-light engine can quickly take over. "For CCCC Real Estate, which is backed by a central state-owned enterprise but is mired in delisting risks, divesting its real estate business is just the beginning. Its path to revival largely depends on whether it can transform itself in the fiercely competitive red ocean of property services and asset management," said Yan Yuejin.

As international gold prices hit a record high close last Friday, market participants seem to have drawn a clear line in their choices among safe-haven assets amid the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict: gold is "shining brightly," while the US dollar and US Treasuries are "losing their luster"...