In August, China increased exports by 8.7% year-on-year to $308.65 billion, according to the report of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China.
Thus, the figure reached its highest level in 23 months. At the same time, the increase was the most significant since March 2023.
Imports increased by 0.5% to $217.63 billion.
Analysts on average predicted a 6.5% increase in exports and a 2% increase in imports, according to Trading Economics.
China’s exports to South Korea last month increased by 3.4%, to the European Union by 13.4%, to the United States by 4.9%, and to ASEAN by 8.8%.
Imports from South Korea increased by 13.3%, ASEAN by 3.5%, India by 3.2%, and Russia by 3.2%. Meanwhile, supplies from the European Union decreased by 4%, Japan – by 3.8%, the United Kingdom – by 2.1%, and the United States – remained unchanged.
China’s foreign trade surplus in August increased to $91.02 billion compared to $67.81 billion in the same month of 2023. The surplus in trade with the United States amounted to $33.81 billion.
In January-August, China’s exports rose by 4.6% year-on-year (to $2.31 trillion), while imports increased by 2.5% (to $1.71 trillion). The foreign trade surplus amounted to $608.49 billion, including $224.57 billion in trade with the United States.
Ophthalmologists at the Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (Odesa) performed the world’s first surgery to remove an intraocular hemangioma in a child. For the first time in the world, the Filatov National Institute of Robotics and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (Odesa) performed a surgery to remove a large intraocular choroidal hemangioma in a child.
The institute told Interfax-Ukraine that the operation was performed by Mykola Umanets, MD, head of the Department of Retinal and Vitreous Pathology.
“Surgical removal of intraocular hemangiomas is not performed due to the very high risk of bleeding and the lack of effective methods to stop it. All modern methods of treating intraocular hemangiomas are aimed at stopping the growth and destruction of the tumor and are effective in the case of small tumors. In cases of large tumors, the only way to solve the problem is to remove the eye,” the institute emphasized.
The operation was performed on a 13-year-old patient. In August 2023, during an eye examination before school, the patient complained of a partial loss of visual field, but there were no complaints of visual impairment and he did not seek medical attention. During the examination in August 2024, doctors found that the vision in the left eye had significantly decreased. During the examination at the Filatov Institute, an almost complete detachment of the retina and a hemangioma under it were found. The situation was complicated by the patient’s young age (at a young age, tumors grow rapidly and behave much more aggressively), untimely treatment, large size of the tumor and unfortunate location almost close to the optic nerve, development of a large retinal detachment with loss of vision.
In 2020, the Filatov Institute removed a large hemangioma from an adult patient for the first time in the world, and it was also the first in the world.
“Just like in 2020, we relied on a unique method of high-frequency electric welding of biological tissues in ophthalmology, developed by scientists of the Filatov Institute together with specialists of the E.O. Paton Institute of Electric Welding, which allows us to remove a hemangioma in an adult patient at the Filatov Institute. The new method allows to remove a hemangioma in an adult patient at the E.O. Paton Institute and significantly reduces the risk of bleeding with the help of unique tools developed by specialists of the two institutes. During the operation, each dissected vessel was “brewed” to prevent bleeding,” the institute noted.
Hemangiomas are benign tumors in various parts of the body caused by abnormal growth of blood vessels and are practically penetrated by them. Hemangiomas can also form in the internal organs, in particular (very rarely) in the choroid (choroid). They do not threaten the patient’s life, but are accompanied by a significant decrease in vision and can cause the development of serious complications, such as retinal detachment, hemorrhages in the eye cavity, and increased intraocular pressure (glaucoma).
Prior to the successful surgery performed by the ophthalmologists of the Filatov Institute in 2020, the world had recorded the only case of surgical removal of an intraocular hemangioma: In 2019, Italian ophthalmologist Barbara Parolini performed surgery to remove a small tumor in an adult patient.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/
Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises increased production of total rolled steel in January-August this year by 26.6% year-on-year, up to 4.318 million tons from 3.410 million tons, according to preliminary data.
According to Ukrmetallurgprom on Tuesday, steel production for the period increased by 30.8% to 5.274 million tons, and pig iron by 21.1% to 4.732 million tons.
In August, the company produced 589.3 thousand tons of rolled products, 690.7 thousand tons of steel, and 643.6 thousand tons of pig iron, compared to 588.6 thousand tons of rolled products, 708.9 thousand tons of steel, and 621.4 thousand tons of pig iron in the previous month.
As reported, in 2023, Ukraine increased production of total rolled products by 0.4% compared to 2022 to 5.372 million tons, but reduced steel production by 0.6% to 6.228 million tons, and pig iron by 6.1% to 6.003 million tons.
In 2022, Ukraine reduced production of total rolled products by 72% compared to 2021, to 5.350 million tons, steel by 70.7% to 6.263 million tons, and pig iron by 69.8% to 6.391 million tons.
In 2021, the company produced 21.165 million tons of pig iron (103.6% compared to 2020), 21.366 million tons of steel (103.6%), and 19.079 million tons of rolled products (103.5%).
Population structure of Ukraine (data from Ukrainian institute of future)
Open4Business.com.ua
German authorities on Monday announced a decision to introduce temporary control at all land borders of the country starting September 16 to reduce the flow of illegal migrants, the Associated Press reports citing the German Interior Ministry.
“The ministry has informed the European Union of the decision to introduce border controls on the land borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark for six months,” the agency reports.
“We are strengthening our internal security by taking concrete measures and continue to take a tough stance against illegal migration,” German Interior Minister Nancy Feser said.
Earlier, Germany also introduced controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.
Germany is a member of the Schengen zone, whose members abolish border controls on internal borders. However, in case of emergency, this control is allowed to be restored for a certain period of time.
Demand for building materials slowed in 2024 after a significant increase last year due to low consumer solvency and insufficient funding for government recovery programs, the Association of Manufacturers of Building Materials noted.
“In general, in terms of estimated volumes, the first half of 2024 almost correlates with the figures for 2023, meaning that there was no miracle in the increase in demand. Sales of specific products today directly depend on the activity of small private developers. Large and truly solvent public or private consumers of wholesale volumes exist in single copies,” Konstantin Saliy, President of the All-Ukrainian Union of Building Materials Manufacturers, told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, individuals make up the bulk of real sales of building materials for which payment has been completed. At the same time, the programs “5-7-9”, “eHouse” and “eRecovery” stimulate unstable increases in demand, which allow keeping the sales of materials at the level of 27-50% of pre-war 2021, the expert noted.
“Under such conditions, the market climate is not expected to improve until the end of 2024,” added Saliy.
Meanwhile, the demand for aerated concrete is driven mainly by apartment construction, which is supported by recovery programs, said Oleg Syrotin, director of the All-Ukrainian Association of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Producers.
“Today, the demand for aerated concrete has decreased by almost 60% compared to the pre-war period. The main consumer of our products, individuals, are hardly building any houses. The industry is surviving mainly due to multi-apartment construction, in particular through government programs for restoration and compensation to the affected people,” he said.
According to the expert, the growth in demand would be positively affected by the expansion of the eHouse state program to low-rise projects of small developers, as this sector was the main consumer of aerated concrete before the war.
“Aerated concrete is used in new construction, so the state program eHouse is the most effective for us. The second most effective program is eRestoration for severely damaged facilities where new walls need to be built. The impact of these programs is certainly positive, but we would like to see more financial resources from the state and banks for them,” explained Syrotin.
According to Ukrcement, cement consumption in January-June 2024 increased to 3 million tons, up 21.3% year-on-year. At the same time, the association’s forecast for the rest of the year is restrained.
“The biggest problem for cement producers is demand. Demand for products has fallen sharply, which means that revenues have also fallen, while costs, on the contrary, are rising. The forecast for cement consumption in 2024 is quite restrained. We had a significant jump in 2023. We produced 7.4 million tons of cement. This year we had a difficult summer in terms of electricity. Therefore, if we reach 8 million tons this year, it will be a very good result,” explained Lyudmyla Krypka, Executive Director of Ukrcement Association.
Demand is significantly affected by the situation at the frontline, as well as government support for the industry, the expert noted. According to her, the policy of subsidies and additional benefits from the state is important to ensure the stable development of the market.
