U.S. Proposes 50% Tariff on Indian Goods! Wood Group to Build Turkey's Largest Polypropylene Plant

International News Guide：

Raw Material News: Wood Group Secures $18 Million Contract to Build Turkey's Largest Polypropylene Plant

Recycling News: Innovation in UK's Largest Offshore Wind Project: Adopting Recyclable Blades with Recycled Plastics and Other Materials

Automotive News: BYD Thailand Plant Exports Electric Vehicles to Europe for the First Time

Healthcare News: Mitsubishi Corporation (Japan) Acquires Partial Stake in Fullerton Health, a Singapore-based Integrated Healthcare Solutions Provider

Macroeconomic News: Trump Announces Removal of Federal Reserve Governor Cook

Price Information: Central Parity Rate of RMB Against USD Reported at 7.1188, Down by 27 Pips

Details of International News:

Proposed "50% Tariff"! U.S. Issues Notice to India

Local time on August 25, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an advance notice, proposing to impose a 50% tariff on Indian goods starting from 12:00 a.m. on August 27. According to Bloomberg reports, the notice states that the tariff will apply to "all Indian goods imported for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption."

Disruption! Multiple Countries Urgently Announce: Suspension of Shipments to the U.S.!

Earlier, Trump announced that the U.S. will suspend duty-free treatment for imported packages valued at $800 or less starting from August 29. From that date, small-value packages will be required to pay all applicable taxes and duties. Statistics show that this exemption originally applied to more than 4 million packages processed daily by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Affected by this, postal operators from many countries have recently announced the suspension of package services to the U.S. (incomplete statistics):

Asia: South Korea, Singapore, Japan, India

Europe: France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Finland, the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria

Other Regions: Australia, Canada, New Zealand

Wood Group Secures $18 Million Contract to Build Turkey's Largest Polypropylene Plant

Wood plc will provide Project Management Consultancy (PMC) services for Turkey's largest polypropylene plant and supporting terminal facilities, which is a key component of the Ceyhan Project. Under the terms of the contract (with a total value of $18 million and a duration of three years), Wood Group will deploy over 70 project management experts to support the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) phase of the polypropylene plant, while also taking charge of the engineering and procurement work for the terminal facilities.

Located in the Ceyhan Industrial Zone of Adana Province, Turkey, the plant has a designed annual production capacity of 472,500 tons of polypropylene. Once put into operation, it will triple Turkey's current annual polypropylene production capacity. The plant will fully use renewable electricity and take internally produced hydrogen as fuel, which can significantly reduce carbon emissions. After completion, the plant will meet 17% of Turkey's polypropylene demand and enhance the country's self-sufficiency in petrochemical production. The supporting terminal facilities will undertake the storage and distribution of propane, and their geographical location is of great strategic significance—adjacent to major ports and petrochemical industrial zones with high demand.

Innovation in UK's Largest Offshore Wind Project: Adopting Recyclable Blades with Recycled Plastics and Other Materials

German energy company RWE and turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa have installed recyclable rotor blades at the Sofia Offshore Wind Farm in the UK, marking the first large-scale promotion of circular wind turbine technology in the UK. Earlier this month, the two companies installed half of the planned 150 recyclable blades on 50 out of the 100 offshore turbines in the project, with the remaining installation work to be completed by the end of the year.

Located in the Dogger Bank, approximately 121 miles (about 195 kilometers) off the northeast coast of England, the Sofia Wind Farm is one of the largest offshore renewable energy projects currently under construction in Europe. When fully operational, the wind farm is expected to provide up to 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of renewable electricity. Reports indicate that this is sufficient to supply clean electricity to approximately 1.2 million households in the UK.

Recovery of U.S. Housing Market Brings New Opportunities for Plastic Processing Enterprises

According to data from the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the number of new housing starts in July 2025 increased by 5.2% to 1.428 million units, the highest level since February. This represents a significant opportunity for plastic processors serving the construction market. The ACC reported these figures in its weekly Chemical and Economic Trends report.

U.S. ITC Officially Launches Section 337 Investigation into Child Car Seats

On August 25, 2025, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) voted to launch a Section 337 investigation into certain child car seats (Investigation Number: 337-TA-1459). The ITC will determine the deadline for completing the investigation within 45 days after filing the case. Except in cases where the U.S. Trade Representative vetoes it for policy reasons, the relief orders issued by the ITC in Section 337 cases shall take effect on the date of issuance and become final 60 days after the date of issuance.

Mitsubishi Corporation (Japan) Acquires Partial Stake in Fullerton Health, a Singapore-based Integrated Healthcare Solutions Provider

On August 26, Fullerton Health, a Singapore-based integrated healthcare solutions provider, announced that Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan has acquired a minority stake in the company. Fullerton Health stated that this investment will help accelerate the development of its integrated healthcare and digital services. It plans to expand its business in existing markets such as Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and enter new markets in Southeast Asia.

BYD Thailand Plant Exports Electric Vehicles to Europe for the First Time

BYD Auto (Thailand) Co., Ltd. announced that electric vehicles produced at its Thailand plant have been exported to the European market for the first time, with a total of over 900 units destined for the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium.

The BYD Thailand plant, which started production in July last year, covers the entire process of stamping, painting, welding, and final assembly.

Overseas Macroeconomic Market:

French Government Bonds Sold Off Amid Political Crisis; Some Japanese Investors See Buying Opportunity

French government bonds have been sold off due to the risk of the Bérur government's collapse, but some Japanese investors see this as a buying opportunity. Fivestar Asset Management and Nissay Asset Management believe that this decline may provide a window for Japanese investors to deploy investments in their third-largest overseas investment destination. The reasons they cited include the fact that the yield premium of French 10-year government bonds over German government bonds of the same maturity has risen to the highest level since April.

Institution: China's Foldable Smartphone Market Shipment Volume Expected to Reach 9.47 Million Units in 2025, Up 3.3% YoY

On August 26, the latest quarterly smartphone forecast report released by IDC shows that the global foldable smartphone market shipment volume is expected to reach approximately 19.83 million units in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 6.0%. By 2029, the global foldable smartphone shipment volume is expected to approach 27.29 million units, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8%. At the same time, the latest forecast from IDC shows that China's foldable smartphone market shipment volume is expected to reach 9.47 million units in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%, basically the same as last year. Currently, as the development of component technology enters a bottleneck period, the room for breakthroughs in the "lightweight and thinness" of foldable smartphones is gradually narrowing. In the future, innovations in the hardware field will focus more on the continuous iteration of product forms.

China's SMEs Record Highest Exports to Africa in July

XTransfer, a Chinese B2B foreign trade financial platform, released the "July 2025 Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for B2B Goods Export Trade of National Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)". Data shows that the XTransfer PMI index in July was 52.4%, slightly higher than the critical point, indicating that the export situation of small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises is generally positive. According to the survey results, the PMI for exports of SMEs to African countries was the highest, especially in the export order index, where African countries performed far better than other regions. Among them, the export PMI to Ghana and Nigeria was the most outstanding.

Swiss Post Announces Suspension of Parcel Shipments to the U.S.

According to Xinhua News Agency, Swiss Post announced on the 25th that starting from August 26, it will suspend the acceptance of postal goods destined for the United States, except for urgent letters (including official documents and certificates) and express delivery items sent via expedited methods. Swiss Post stated that since the U.S. will suspend duty-free treatment for imported packages valued at $800 or less starting from August 29, all goods shipped to the U.S. must be transported with customs duties paid. After in-depth consultations with national authorities, Swiss Post made the above decision.

Trump Announces Removal of Federal Reserve Governor Cook

Local time on August 25, U.S. President Trump publicly released a letter to Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on his social media platform "Truth Social", announcing her immediate removal from office. Citing relevant provisions of Article II of the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Reserve Act enacted in 1913, Trump stated that he had determined that there were sufficient reasons to remove Cook from her position. The letter mentioned a criminal referral document submitted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency on August 15, which alleged that Cook had made false statements in mortgage documents. For example, she first declared a property in Michigan as her primary residence in one document, and then made the same declaration in another document in Georgia. Trump called this act "unimaginable" and questioned her integrity and competence as a financial regulator. Trump accused Cook of engaging in "fraudulent and potentially criminal behavior" in financial affairs, and stated that such behavior had undermined her credibility as a regulator.

Price Information:

Central Parity Rate of RMB Against USD

The central parity rate of RMB against USD was reported at 7.1188, down by 27 pips; the central parity rate of the previous trading day was 7.1161, the official closing price of the previous trading day was 7.1517, and the overnight closing price was 7.1548.

U.S. Dollar Market Prices of Upstream Raw Materials

Ethylene (Asia): CFR Northeast Asia at $840/ton, up by $10/ton; CFR Southeast Asia at $30/ton, up by $10/ton.

Propylene (Northeast Asia): FOB South Korea average price at $755/ton, up by $5/ton; CFR China average price at $785/ton, up by $5/ton.

Frozen cargo CIF price (North Asia): Propane at $530-$531/ton; Butane at $540-$541/ton.

Frozen cargo CIF price for September delivery (South China): Propane at $571-$581/ton; Butane at $551-$561/ton.

Frozen cargo CIF price (Taiwan Region, China): Propane at $530-$531/ton; Butane at $540-$541/ton.

LLDPE U.S. Dollar Market Prices

Film: $865-$920/ton (CFR Huangpu), up by $5/ton;

Injection Molding: $950/ton (CFR Dongguan).

HDPE U.S. Dollar Market Prices

Film: $905-$970/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Blow Molding: $855/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Injection Molding: $870/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Pipes: $1025/ton (CFR Huangpu).

LDPE U.S. Dollar Market Prices

Film: $1100/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Coating: $1280/ton (CFR Huangpu).

PP U.S. Dollar Market Prices

Homopolymer: $895-$965/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Copolymer: $900-$965/ton (CFR Nansha);

Film Grade: $1020/ton (CFR Nansha);

Transparent Grade: $970-$1055/ton (CFR Huangpu);

Pipes: $1130/ton (CFR Shanghai).