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South Korea Sees First Trade Deficit with China in 28 Years
FAR EAST: SOUTH KOREA REPORT

Akihiro Komuro The economic relationship between China and the ROK has reached a turning point. According to statistics from the ROK, for the first time in 28 years, the ROK has a trade deficit with China. China has been the best customer of the export driven ROK economy, and this is causing concern in the ROK. At the same time, Chinese companies are intensifying their takeover of Korean companies, and in response to the escalation of the U.S.-China conflict, they have begun to pursue a strategy of using Korea as a foothold to capture the U.S. market.
A management official at South Korea’s Hyundai Motor’s joint venture plant in Chongqing, China, said that the passenger car assembly plant is idle and that negotiations are underway to sell it to a Chinese company. Hyundai Motor started operations in Chongqing in 2017, including an assembly plant with an annual production capacity of 300,000 units, but sales slumped due to the rise of Chinese automakers. At one point, the company occupied second place with a market share of nearly 10%, but recently it has fallen below 2% and slumped to 10th place.
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Honda To Discontinue Two-Wheeled Gasoline Vehicles
FAR EAST: JAPAN REPORT
On Sept. 13, 2022, Honda announced it will eliminate gasoline-powered motorcycles by the mid-2040s. All new vehicles will be EV motorcycles; 3.5 million, or 15% of global sales, are to be EV motorcycles by 2030. Honda has already declared that all its four-wheeled vehicles will be EVs by 2040, but this is the first time the company has laid out a concrete strategy for decarbonization on two wheels.
From now on, Honda will pursue electrification exclusively with EVs. First, it will launch at least 10 EV motorcycle models by 2025. Since investment in new vehicle development and production facilities will be a heavy burden, Honda will use a common platform for batteries, motors, and other components for three large motorcycle models to be launched in Japan, the United States, and Europe between 2024 and 2025.
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Drought Forces Power Cuts at Sichuan Factories
CHINA REPORT

Qin Fen Sichuan’s worst drought in more than a half century spurred the Chinese province to extend industrial power cuts and activate its highest emergency response, adding to manufacturers’ woes as they shut down factories in the region.
Source: Bloomberg Read The Article
Xinhua News Agency Read The Article
Shanghai Daily Read The Article
China.org.cn Read The Article
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Special Report: M&T Expo
BRAZIL/SOUTH AMERICA REPORT

Carlos Briganti TheM&T Expo 2022 is one of the most important trade fairs in the construction and mining equipment industry throughout Latin America and this year the show featured more than 600 exhibiting brands in 54,000 square meters. Held in Sao Paulo Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2022, the event had more than 30,000 visits in four days.
Disagreements between show organizers and exhibitors caused key players in the market to avoid the show. The list of missing exhibitors included Caterpillar, John Deere, Komatsu, JCB, CNH, and Volvo. Chinese companies, as well as Liebherr, took this opportunity to use large spaces at the event, both in area and in product portfolio with respective sales and engineering teams.
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Report from Cannes Yachting Festival 2022
EUROPE REPORT

Natasa Mulahalilovic The Cannes Yachting Festival is one of the largest in-water shows in the world, and this year it celebrated its 45th birthday. Founded in 1977, the show normally takes place every September. However, it missed out in 2020 because of Covid-19 restrictions, but it was back in 2021, posting the best performance results ever.
This year, the show was held Sept 6-11, and featured a fleet of about 700 boats, ranging in length from 3 to 50 meters. It included motor and sailing vessels, monohulls and multihulls, inboards, sterndrives and outboards, diesel, petrol, waterjet, hybrid and electric, tenders, RIBs and others displayed in the two main city ports of Le Vieux Port and Port Pierre Canto. This year, more than 56,000 visitors attended the show.
The new Polish Sunreef 80 Eco was the star of the festival. The all-electric, fully autonomous luxury catamaran of 23.87 m in length, 164 m2 covered with solar panels, is a unique boat in the industry. This luxury catamaran is equipped with ultra-light batteries with a density of 5.2 kg/kWh. The innovative system is entirely created and produced by the company itself offering the best efficiency in the marine world.
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DATAPOINT: NA Crawlers, 2022 Production: 4,100 Units
A Crawler Loader is a piece of mobile construction equipment used to load materials; it’s used primarily in tough, off-road terrain. It’s similar to a wheel loader, except it has treads instead of wheels.
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Outdoor Power Equipment To Grow 5.3%

Michael Aistrup Power Systems Research (PSR) projects the global outdoor power equipment market to grow from $34.01 billion in 2021 to $48.91 billion by 2028, a CAGR of 5.34% over the forecast period. The outdoor power equipment market includes consumer and commercial lawn mowers, chain saws, leaf blowers, and other motorized equipment used in the upkeep of lawn and gardens.
Global trends.North America is expected to dominate the market because of the growth of commercial and residential lawns and parks. The market in North America stood at $13.7 billion in 2021 and is expected to gain a huge portion of the global market share.
In Europe, continued automation in the lawn mower segment will increase demand for automated residential lawn mowers.
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Navistar Introduces S13 Engine Platform

Chris Fisher Navistar says it plans to introduce the Navistar 12.7 liter S13 engine platform in the fourth quarter of 2023. The S13 engine is based upon the Scania DC13 engine and will supersede the current 12.4 liter A26 engine platform starting next year. The initial engine installations will be standard on the LT and RH truck platforms and will be introduced to the HV and HX platforms in 2024. The order books are expected to open in October.
The S13 engine will be paired with the…
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DATAPOINT: North America Crawlers
OEMs in North America are expected to produce 4,100 crawlers this year, according to forecasts by Power Systems Research global analyst Carol Turner. PSR
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Hyundai Doosan Infracore Plans Hydrogen Engine
FAR EAST: SOUTH KOREA REPORT
Hyundai Doosan Infracore announced that it has been selected as the lead company for the national project “Development of Hydrogen Engine System and Storage and Supply System for Construction Machinery and Commercial Vehicles” by the Industrial Technology Evaluation and Management Agency.
Through this project, the company plans to develop a 300kW, 11-liter class hydrogen engine and hydrogen tank system with zero carbon emissions, which will be installed in commercial vehicles…