US Fed announced for the fifth consecutive time this year to maintain interest rates unchanged.

July 29: An operator in east China offered a monthly rental of 25,000 yuan for Zhenwu 810E eight-GPU servers; a 64-unit H100 cluster in Inner Mongolia was available for full lease at a monthly rate of 79,000 yuan, locked in for four years with a closed price; in Beijing, nine spot Ascend 910C Atlas 800T A3 servers were offered at a monthly rental of 63,000 yuan; in the H100 machine channel, there was no spot availability, and as soon as downstream finalised, upstream was sold out; a certain operator’s high-end computing project had a shortfall of 300 units, citing that the prices were too high to bear; large-scale demand for 910B2 leasing emerged, with clusters of more than 64 units being scarce nationwide.

The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce and seven other departments jointly released the “Implementation Rules for the Shanghai 2026 Consumer Goods Trade-in Self-Selected Category Subsidy Policy”. The implementation rules specify that individual consumers purchasing nine categories of smart home products—including smart cleaning robots (including floor-cleaning and window-cleaning robots), smart toilets (including smart toilet seats), smart beds (including smart mattresses), functional sofas (including massage chairs), smart range hoods, smart household gas stoves (including integrated stoves), digital cameras (including action cameras), smart water purifiers, and smart dishwashers—receive a subsidy of 15% of the final selling price after all discounts. Each consumer can receive a subsidy for one item per product category, with a maximum subsidy of 1,500 yuan per item. For individual consumers purchasing age-friendly home products such as smart walking aids (including electric wheelchairs and exoskeleton robots), a subsidy of 20% of the final selling price after all discounts is provided. Each consumer can receive a subsidy for one item per product category, with a maximum subsidy of 2,000 yuan per item.

On July 28, 2026, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) issued a notice announcing its final antidumping duty (AD) determinations on steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) imports from Bulgaria, Egypt, and Vietnam. The DOC determined dumping margins of 53.27% for Bulgarian exporters/producers, 34.20%–52.73% for Egyptian exporters/producers, and 128.53%–136.57% for Vietnamese exporters/producers (with cash deposit rates adjusted to 123.49%–131.53% after offsetting subsidies). Concurrently, the DOC made final countervailing duty (CVD) determinations on rebar imports from Egypt and Vietnam, setting subsidy rates of 23.27% for Egyptian enterprises (while finding no transnational subsidies) and 6.80% for Vietnamese enterprises. The case primarily involves products under US HS codes 7213.10.0000, 7214.20.0000, and 7228.30.8010. On June 25, 2025, the DOC initiated AD and CVD investigations on rebar imports from Algeria, Egypt, and Vietnam, and concurrently launched an AD investigation on rebar imports from Bulgaria. On December 17, 2025, the DOC issued a preliminary AD determination on rebar imports from Algeria. On January 9, 2026, the DOC issued preliminary CVD determinations on rebar imports from Algeria, Egypt, and Vietnam. On March 10, 2026, the DOC issued preliminary AD determinations on rebar imports from Bulgaria, Egypt, and Vietnam. On March 3, 2026, the DOC issued a final AD determination on rebar imports from Algeria. On March 25, 2026, the DOC issued a final CVD determination on rebar imports from Algeria.

[SMM Analysis: Energy Storage Surge Boosts Electrolyte Demand, VC Industry Supply-Demand Tension Intensifies] The ESS sector’s growth certainty is prominent; a surge in installations across multiple scenarios in and outside China is driving up demand for ESS battery cells; demand for electrolyte and upstream lithium chemicals and additives is expanding in tandem; and the industry’s supply-demand pattern is being reshaped.

SMM, July 24: End-use consumption in the e-bike lead-acid battery market remains persistently weak. Dealers report no signs of improvement in battery sales yet, and overall market trading is sluggish. It is also learned that the e-bike trade-in subsidy policy in the Guangdong region has been gradually launched, with a maximum subsidy of 500 yuan per vehicle. Going forward, attention will be paid to the transmission of the subsidy policy to e-bike lead-acid battery consumption.