Bangladesh has announced a major policy package to accelerate solar development, including a 0% tax rate for the solar sector until 2035 and a 5% tax rebate on consumers’ solar electricity bill payments. The government will also reduce import duty, regulatory duty, supplementary duty and advance tax to 0% on key solar components, including inverters, lithium cells, lithium-ion batteries, PV modules, mounting structures, BESS, battery management systems, solar DC cables and battery thermal management systems. The policy aims to attract investment and support Bangladesh’s target of meeting 20% of electricity demand from renewables by 2030 and 30%-50% from clean energy by 2050. SMM believes lower taxes and equipment import costs will support utility-scale and distributed solar development, while improving the attractiveness of local renewable energy equipment manufacturing.

Bangladesh has announced a major policy package to accelerate solar development, including a 0% tax rate for the solar sector until 2035 and a 5% tax rebate on payments made against consumers’ solar electricity bills. The government will also reduce import duty, regulatory duty, supplementary duty and advance tax to 0% on key solar components, including inverters, lithium cells, batteries, PV modules, mounting structures, BESS, battery management systems, solar DC cables and thermal management systems. The policy aims to attract investment and support Bangladesh’s target of meeting 20% of electricity demand from renewables by 2030 and 30%-50% from clean energy by 2050.

During SNEC 2026, Jinko Solar held 10 consecutive strategic partnership signing ceremonies, reaching Tiger Neo 3.0 supply agreements with C&D Emerging Energy, Jiangsu Yude New Energy, Xcel Renewable Energy Corp. of the Philippines, UCC Group of Bangladesh, and six core partners in Pakistan. The partnerships span multiple key markets, with application scenarios covering utility-scale ground-mounted plants, commercial and industrial distributed projects, and other diverse application areas, fully promoting the large-scale deployment and widespread application of Tiger Neo 3.0 high-efficiency modules in the global market.

[SMM Steel] Japan exported 2.35 million mt of ferrous scrap in January-April 2026, down 9.9% year on year, while April exports fell 10.1% YoY to 667,678 mt. Vietnam remained the largest importer of Japanese scrap during the period, importing 1.02 million mt, down 10.1% YoY. Bangladesh imported 516,219 mt, up 22.3%, while South Korea imported 350,019 mt, down 17.9% YoY. Meanwhile, Japanese scrap exports to Thailand more than doubled to 173,869 mt during the four-month period.

Data from the online customs statistics query platform showed that China's copper cathode imports in April 2026 totaled 315,798.48 mt, up 13.04% MoM and up 5.20% YoY. China imported 147,428.95 mt of copper cathode from the DRC in April, up 48.72% MoM and up 29.56% YoY. China imported 24,309.19 mt of copper cathode from Russia in April, down 51.38% MoM and down 4.86% YoY. Export side, China's copper cathode exports in April 2026 totaled 25,605.82 mt, down 56.01% MoM and down 67.05% YoY. China exported 8,545 mt of copper cathode to Thailand in April, down 10.06% MoM and down 33.74% YoY. Below is a breakdown of export data compiled from the General Administration of Customs website: Destination April 2026 (mt) MoM YoY Thailand 8545.00 -10.06% -33.74% Taiwan, China 6495.34 -68.73% 4.84% Vietnam 4066.94 -72.57% -60.37% Malaysia 3098.77 -29.13% 674.63% Indonesia 1998.63 42.45% 566.47% South Korea 551.42 -88.92% -93.31% Bangladesh 499.78 -1.00% - Pakistan 199.94 -63.55% -19.91% Singapore 149.97 - -92.11% UK 0.02 63.64% 260.00% Total 25605.82 -56.01% -67.05% Data source: General Administration of Customs (Wenhua Comprehensive)

According to the latest customs data, China imported 2,574 mt of die-cast zinc alloy in April 2026, down 20.79% month-on-month. From January to April 2026, China's cumulative imports of die-cast zinc alloy reached 10,636 mt, down 27.96% year-on-year.

The Bangladesh Power Division has introduced a new Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework to facilitate renewable energy projects on government-owned land. By streamlining access to public land, the policy aims to alleviate a critical bottleneck for private investors, with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) acting as the contracting authority. Industry experts emphasize that this initiative is vital for achieving the country's target of 10 GW of solar capacity by 2030. Currently, Bangladesh has approximately 1.44 GW of operational solar capacity, and the government hopes that structured implementation and bankable project agreements will attract both domestic and foreign investment to scale up the sector.

Data from the online query platform of customs statistics showed that China's copper cathode imports in March 2026 totaled 279,368.28 mt, up 37.22% MoM and down 21.12% YoY. China imported 99,134 mt of copper cathode from the DRC in March, up 40.29% MoM and down 11.90% YoY. China imported 50,000.35 mt of copper cathode from Russia in March, up 161.09% MoM and down 31.48% YoY. Export side, China's copper cathode exports in March 2026 totaled 58,213.02 mt, down 25.59% MoM and down 14.40% YoY. China exported 20,773.82 mt of copper cathode to Taiwan, China in March, down 27.00% MoM and down 1.54% YoY. China exported 14,825.88 mt of copper cathode to Vietnam in March, up 324.68% MoM and up 109.54% YoY. Below is a breakdown of import data compiled from the General Administration of Customs website: Origin Mar 2026 (mt) MoM YoY DRC 99,134 40.29% -11.90% Russia 50,000.35 161.09% -31.48% Chile 22,176.40 -12.79% -50.96% Japan 16,813.32 149.84% 1.38% Kazakhstan 14,609.34 70.94% -27.94% Zambia 11,917.14 -48.13% -8.35% Australia 10,361.24 3,338.25% 179.50% Pakistan 8,398.21 14.35% 64.90% Myanmar 5,120.18 8.98% 278.21% Indonesia 5,019.44 340.72% 284.62% Peru 4,153.01 -22.79% -59.93% Uzbekistan 4,085.00 30.57% 44.14% Serbia 4,013.21 223.16% 71.66% Netherlands 3,492.23 - - South Africa 3,158.74 75.66% 93.03% UAE 2,332.17 -32.74% -82.42% Qatar 1,490.99 81.41% 2.66% Laos 1,240.29 149.66% 120.76% India 1,135.97 -17.24% 23.41% Spain 1,112.20 - 95.25% Poland 1,040.86 -65.70% -67.21% Belgium 991.46 - -63.55% South Korea 955.28 380.10% -74.44% Egypt 741.65 288.74% 486.40% Turkey 679.23 37.84% -65.17% Thailand 672.95 35.89% -22.71% Malaysia 613.67 -31.49% -74.16% Congo Republic 526.09 - 26.03% China 494.64 -93.81% -87.52% Morocco 393.22 -85.83% -34.82% Oman 344.97 0.02% 584.33% Georgia 328.85 192.31% 47.21% Mexico 306.63 -38.01% -85.20% Mongolia 266.98 -63.16% -86.27% Tajikistan 214.46 -36.44% 8.38% Taiwan, China 184.36 794.98% -51.82% Guinea 127.41 -29.09% -28.30% Sierra Leone 103.81 39.79% - Gabon 98.77 36.40% 113.83% Bolivia 84.3 1,045.38% -78.08% Canada 82.92 245.42% 63.55% Jordan 75.4 - -24.74% Mauritius 70.29 188.67% - Angola 50.48 -66.97% - Mozambique 48.2 - - Kenya 25 - - Brazil 23.48 - - Hong Kong, China 20.98 - 419,500.00% Germany 20.09 -40.76% 143.80% Finland 18.41 -38.81% - US 0.02 118.18% - Italy 0.02 - 15.00% Total 279,368.28 37.22% -21.12% Source: General Administration of Customs Below is a breakdown of export data compiled from the General Administration of Customs website: Destination Mar 2026 (mt) MoM YoY Taiwan, China 20,773.82 -27.00% -1.54% Vietnam 14,825.88 324.68% 109.54% Thailand 9,501.22 86.48% 99.85% South Korea 4,974.88 -79.95% -57.72% Malaysia 4,372.73 157.42% 631.26% Indonesia 1,403.09 -24.76% 99.96% India 1,202.46 -77.01% 9,249,569.23% Pakistan 548.46 171.61% 265.62% Bangladesh 504.81 25,140.40% - UAE 100.48 - - Tanzania 4.57 - - Hong Kong, China 0.61 - - UK 0.01 1,000.00% - Belgium 0.01 66.67% - Total 58,213.02 -25.59% -14.40% Source: General Administration of Customs (Wenhua Comprehensive)

According to the latest customs data, in the first quarter of 2026, China's imports of die-casting zinc alloys reached 8,062 metric tons, representing a year-on-year cumulative decrease of 26.66%. Meanwhile, exports stood at 1,720 metric tons, posting a year-on-year cumulative increase of 89.64%.

The Bangladesh Power Development Board ('BPDB') plans to invest $200 million in a 442 MW solar plant near the Rampal coal power station. Set to be the country's largest solar installation, the 685-acre project will be financed mostly by the government's Power Development Fund. Thanks to lower construction costs, the proposed power tariff is highly competitive at $0.050/kWh. This initiative supports Bangladesh's broader target to source 20% of its electricity from renewables by 2030, helping to mitigate ongoing energy crises and frequent load shedding.