Zhimeitong | International Highlights

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[International Brotherhood of Truckers opens new division: dedicated to Amazon employees] The International Brotherhood of Truckers, one of the largest U.S. unions, said the union has created a new division focused on Amazon.com's employee unions.

The e-commerce giant has discouraged employees from unionizing for years. But in April, the worker-led Amazon union won, with employees at a warehouse on Staten Island, part of New York City, voting to join the group.

The International Brotherhood of Truckers last year planned to create a division dedicated to Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the United States.

[Container freight rates on the U.S.-Western route plummeted 60% during the year] The data shows that the freight price from China/East Asia to the West Coast of the United States is US$4,787/40-foot container (FEU), down about 60% from January, and the freight price from China/East Asia to North Europe It was $9,128/FEU, down 42% from January. From a global perspective, as of September 7, the global average freight price was US$5,286/FEU, down about 45% from January. From the historical trend, the price trend this year and the same period last year intersected, that is, this year showed a downward trend. The ocean freight rate is lower than the same period in 2021. However, it needs to be explained that the current freight rate is still much higher than the average price of $1000-1500/FEU before the epidemic.

01. North America

[Nearly 4,000 users in a California area lose power] The US power company Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) said on September 6, local time, that starting at 15:50 that day, nearly 4,000 users in the West Sacramento area of ​​California lost power. It was initially determined that the power outage was caused by heatwave weather. The company said it was not sure when power would be restored. According to reports, the inland and valley areas of California ushered in a heat wave in September, with temperatures exceeding 43 degrees Celsius in many areas, and the California power grid is approaching the limit of electricity consumption. California's grid independent system operator (ISO) has warned that outages are likely if customers don't reduce their electricity usage.

[Affected by drought and other factors, U.S. crop production may decline significantly] Drought and extreme weather in the United States have seriously affected the production of many food crops, fruits and vegetables. U.S. crop production could fall by as much as a third this year compared with last year, according to the American Federation of Farmers. Analysts believe that U.S. corn production may fall to the lowest level since 2012; while the hard red winter wheat harvest reached its lowest point since 1963. In addition, some industry groups say California's rice harvest is only half of a normal year. In Texas, local cotton farmers have abandoned nearly 70 percent of their crops due to low harvests, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

[Google will hold a new product launch conference on October 6 to announce new hardware products such as Pixel Watch] Google will hold a new hardware launch conference at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on October 6th (22:00 Beijing time on October 7th). It is reported that Google will bring Pixel 7 series mobile phones and new smart watch Pixel Watch at this conference. In addition, Google will also bring new smart home products in this conference. According to reports, the Pixel 7 series mobile phones will be equipped with a new Tensor G2 chip, and the appearance will continue the design of the previous generation.

[Google CEO hints at layoffs: to increase company efficiency by 20%] The CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet said he hopes to increase the company's efficiency by 20%. Given the current set of challenges, and Google's continued hiring over the years, that could include layoffs.

[ Google hires "Washington Post" CIO to lead news division] Alphabet's Google has hired "Washington Post" CIO as general manager of news division.

Shailesh Prakash has worked at The Washington Post for more than 10 years, leading design, product and technology teams.

"This is an extremely important role, and Google has given him the opportunity to make a difference in the world by pursuing his interests at the intersection of journalism and engineering," said the Washington Post chief executive.

[Meta (Facebook parent company) will hold its annual event on October 11, or will launch a new helmet] Meta (Facebook parent company) CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the annual VR conference Connect will be held on October 11. Zuckerberg appears to be wearing a new helmet in the poster, which could be Project Cambria, an MR headset. Zuckerberg said in a podcast interview last month that Project Cambria is planned for this fall. This helmet has powerful computing power that can capture real-world images with cameras and display them inside the helmet in real-time in color.

US streamers such as Netflix and Amazon cut spending on UK shows for the first time last year Programme spending as Britain's traditional broadcasters pour in record sums.

Spending by traditional British broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 on programmes from UK production companies rose by 12% to a record £1.45bn last year. Spending by pay-TV companies led by Sky also hit a new high of £443m. Global streaming companies such as Netflix and Amazon spent 16 per cent on UK-produced shows last year to £299 million, the lowest level since 2018.

[Mexico launches anti-dumping investigation on Chinese steel grinding balls] On September 6, 2022, the Ministry of Economy of Mexico issued an announcement in the official daily, deciding to apply for domestic company Moly-Cop Mexico.SAde CV to import steel products originating in China. The grinding ball has launched an anti-dumping investigation, and the Mexican customs tariff number of the product involved is 73261103. The announcement will take effect from the day after it is issued. The dumping investigation period in this case is from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, and the damage investigation period is from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021.

02. EU region

[European Commission will propose to limit Russian gas prices] The president of the European Commission said that he will propose restrictions on Russian gas prices to cut Russia's fiscal revenue. In addition, the European Commission will propose mandatory targets to reduce electricity consumption during peak hours, while proposing a cap on the revenue of low-cost generators. According to EU rules, the European Commission's proposal must be approved by the 27 member states before it can enter into force. Opinions are divided within the EU on the approach to capping energy prices. The energy ministers of EU member states plan to hold an emergency meeting on the 9th of this month to conduct consultations on the current energy crisis facing the EU and discuss relevant proposals.

[The EU will take intervention measures to ease the liquidity problem in the energy market] According to a document released by the European Commission, the EU is ready to take measures to ease the increasing liquidity pressure in the energy market due to soaring collateral requirements. The European Commission wants to “explore, in collaboration with relevant securities and banking regulators, the collateral that will allow market participants to find collateral to meet margin calls”. It was previously reported that the EU plans to impose a €200/MWh price cap on non-gas power generation. Credit Suisse senior analyst Jens Zimmermann said the EU price cap proposal was "high enough" so it wouldn't discourage future investment in non-gas production technologies.

[Institutional analysis: Euro zone economic growth exceeded expectations in the second quarter] The agency pointed out that the euro zone's economic growth in the second quarter exceeded expectations, and revised data showed that consumer and government spending provided greater support for economic growth. While the figures suggest the euro zone economy has been stronger than expected in the summer, the bloc is facing soaring energy costs and a potential shortage of energy supplies due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Analysts fear the euro zone is on the brink of recession, with business surveys showing factory production has slowed as consumers' purchasing power wanes. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is gearing up for another rate hike this week, with economists expecting the ECB to raise rates by 75 basis points. While some policymakers say it is important to take strong action now to prevent inflation from entrenching, others warn that aggressive rate hikes could heighten the risk of recession in the euro zone.

[Italy considers reducing the heating temperature by 2 degrees and shortening the heating time by one month] Italian ministerial documents show that the Italian government may consider reducing the heating temperature by 2 degrees Celsius and increase the shortening of the heating time from the originally planned two weeks to one month , to deal with the problems caused by Russia's cutting off natural gas supplies.

03. Other regions

[Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the expansion of sanctions against the EU] The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the expansion of sanctions against the EU, placing the EU's top military leaders, senior officials of the security agencies of EU member states, and European arms and military equipment production involved in the delivery of military products to Ukraine. Representatives of business organizations are included in the prohibited entry list.

[Lazada establishes the first Southeast Asia e-commerce anti-counterfeiting alliance] Lazada, in conjunction with e-commerce platforms and enterprises, launched the first e-commerce anti-counterfeiting alliance in Southeast Asia. The consortium, called the Southeast Asian E-Commerce Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group (SeCA Working Group), will be headquartered in Singapore.

Launched in conjunction with IP Week @ SG organised by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), the alliance aims to establish a set of best practices and standards for the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights in e-commerce.

The e-commerce platforms participating in the alliance are Lazada, AliExpress, Carousell, WeChat, TikTok and Tokopedia. Other consortium members include sportswear maker Puma, car maker BMW and consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble.

The SeCA Working Group has announced plans to provide an online catalog. The directory will contain appropriate intellectual property protection policies, programs, tools and resources provided by Lazada to support intellectual property owners in their efforts to manage and prevent participation in intellectual property infringement on the platform.

[Southeast Asia is expected to be the region with the most potential for TikTok Shop] LOCAD, a digital logistics company, made this prediction by analyzing the growth trend of digital retail sales in various countries around the world and the number of TikTok user groups: Southeast Asia is expected to become the region with the most potential for TikTok Shop.

According to April 2022 data released by TikTok’s self-service advertising tool, 4 of the top 10 countries with the most active TikTok users are from Southeast Asia. They are Indonesia (2nd), Vietnam (6th), the Philippines (7th) and Thailand (8th).

At the same time, the total active users of TikTok in Southeast Asian countries reached 265 million, far higher than the United States, which topped the list with 152 million users. The numbers are based on TikTok's potential ad reach to users 18 and older.

[Maersk announces the opening of a warehouse in Cajalmar, Sao Paulo, Brazil] Maersk announced the opening of a new warehouse facility in Cajamar, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The LEED-certified Platinum facility brings additional warehouse capacity to the São Paulo region, adding value to customers' supply chains and providing seamless logistics solutions throughout the region.

[Maersk opens a new warehouse in the suburbs of Mumbai, India] Maersk's official website announced that Maersk opened a new warehouse in Biwandi, a suburb of Mumbai, India. The warehouse will be Maersk's fifth in India this year, with a total area of ​​more than 2.1 million square feet, including the recently completed acquisition of LF Logistics.

Zhimeitong | Logistics Highlights

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[Baltic dry bulk index rises on firmer Panamax prices] The Baltic dry bulk index rose 19 points, or 1.7 percent, to 1,133 on Wednesday. The capesize index fell 72 points, or 10%, to 656. Average daily earnings for capesize vessels fell $595 to $5,442. The panamax index rose 164 points, or 11.6%, to 1,577, its biggest gain in nine months. Average daily earnings for panamax vessels rose $1,481 to $14,196. The Supramax index fell 5 points to 1,482, falling for a ninth straight session.

[From January to August, 10,575 trains and 1.024 million TEUs of goods were dispatched by China-Europe trains] It was learned from China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. that from January to August this year, a total of 10,575 trains and 1.024 million TEUs were sent by China-Europe trains. Growth of 5% and 6%, continuing to maintain a strong growth trend. From January to August, a total of 10,575 trains and 1.024 million TEUs were dispatched by China-Europe freight trains, up 5% and 6% year-on-year respectively, and the comprehensive heavy container rate reached 98.5%. Among them, 1,585 trains were opened in August, and 154,000 TEUs were sent, an increase of 18% and 19% year-on-year respectively, both hitting record highs.

Zhimeitong | Domestic Highlights

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[Douyin e-commerce independent app "Douyin Box" will suspend operations] ByteDance's independent e-commerce app "Douyin Box" is about to suspend operations. A person familiar with the matter said that ByteDance has suspended its investment in Douyin Box at present, and informal communication has been carried out internally, and employees can return to Douyin e-commerce and other teams through internal living water.

Zhimeitong | E-commerce highlights

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[Amazon US will soon remove all fusible ASINs] Amazon US announced that due to the increase in customer complaints related to melting products, Amazon has decided to implement new regulations for meltable seller-fulfilled products from September 21, 2022. Melt Product Shipping Policy.

The Melttable Product Shipping Policy is designed to protect the customer experience by ensuring that heat sensitive products, including but not limited to chocolate, fondant and select jelly and wax based products, are received in satisfactory condition.

After this policy goes into effect, Amazon may remove sellers' offers and suspend or deactivate their Amazon selling accounts (and any associated accounts) if they receive multiple complaints of melted products.

[Amazon Europe: B2B pricing rules can be automatically set] Amazon Europe announced that Amazon has developed a new automation feature that allows sellers to set B2B pricing rules with just a few clicks.

Pricing competitiveness is understood to be critical to attracting corporate buyers, who tend to buy in bulk and return infrequently. Adding business buyer price and quantity discounts increases seller visibility among the growing group of more than 5 million business buyers.

If sellers need to automate business price and quantity discounts in their catalogs, they can set them up in business catalog rules; if sellers want to automate across specific SKUs, they can set up custom business price and quantity discount rules.

[Shopee will officially launch the Free Shipping Program in Mexico next month] Shopee announced that the Shopee Mexico site will launch the Free Shipping Program (FSS, FreeShipping Program) on October 3, 2022.

At the same time, Shopee will implement a free trial period from September 5 to October 2, 2022. During the trial period of this free shipping item, all stores in normal operation will be automatically covered (penalty points must be less than 6).

[Shopee opens the 9.9 Super Shopping Festival] Shopee announced the official opening of the first super promotion in the second half of 2022 – the 9.9 Super Shopping Festival. The event period is from August 26 to September 9, 2022.

This big promotion will fully release the consumption potential of the four major categories of electronics, fashion, life, and fast-moving consumer goods with more refined services, more interesting gameplay and faster delivery, creating continuous incremental opportunities for cross-border merchants.

This year's Shopee 9.9 Super Shopping Festival focuses on providing consumers with a full range of products, and further optimizes users' purchasing experience by upgrading marketing, operations, logistics and other services.

[Dunhuang.com goes offline for the U.S. shipping small package (general + special)-LBTX line] Dunhuang.com has issued a notice on the offline of the American shipping small package (general + special)-LBTX line.

Dunhuang.com stated that due to the reasons of the channel business, the US shipping small package (P&T)-LBTX line has been urgently offline at 17:00 on September 6, 2022, and the order entry has been closed. Orders already placed will not be affected, and sellers can Choose to continue shipping or switch to another channel.

[Alibaba International Station launched the "Digital Mixed Exhibition" service for the first time] During the procurement festival in September this year, Alibaba International Station launched the "Digital Mixed Exhibition" service for the first time. 14 domestic consumer electronics companies participated in the exhibition in a centralized manner, and expanded overseas markets through the innovative exhibition method of online + offline linkage.

It is understood that the hybrid exhibition does not require merchants to visit in person. Ali International Station provides an exclusive on-site service team for the exhibition to help merchants with offline exhibition layout, exhibition gift distribution, and on-site interaction services.

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