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China's motorcycle sales up 6.7% in June

China's motorcycle industry posted steady growth in June, with the sales volume climbing 6.7 percent year-on-year, data from an industry association showed. A total of 1.47 million motorcycles were sold in the country last month, up 4.3 percent from May, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The motorcycle output rose 8.1 percent year-on-year to 1.48 million units in June, the association said. In the first half of 2019, motorcycle sales fell 3.5 percent from a year earlier to 7.8 million units, narrowing from the 5.6-percent decline in the first five months.

Europe-Chongqing freight trains increase

Freight trains between Southwest China's Chongqing municipality and Europe have made a total of 812 trips in the first half of this year, up 86.7 percent year-on-year, the operator said on Wednesday. Among them, 301 were outbound trips and 511 were inbound, according to Yuxinou (Chongqing) Logistics Co Ltd. "The number of return trips exceeded that of the departures, showing that trade between China and Europe tends to be more balanced," said Qi Dan, head of the company. Chongqing was among the first Chinese cities connected to Europe through the China-Europe rail routes.

New Oriental posts robust revenue

Shares of New Oriental Education&Technology Group Inc (New Oriental), a leading provider of private educational services in China, soared on Tuesday after the company reported quarterly revenue and next-quarter guidance that topped analysts' expectations. Total net revenue increased 20.2 percent year-on-year to $842.9 million for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2019, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Wall Street had expected its revenue to climb 19 percent to $831 million, according to Yahoo Finance.

Hey Tea donates to red rice industry in Yunnan

Hey Tea, a Shenzhen-based beverage company, announced on Monday a donation of 2 million yuan ($290,000) to the red rice industry in Yunnan province and the purchase of red rice from local farmers to support the sustainable development of local agriculture. The move marks an effort by the company to help alleviate poverty. Hey Tea has formed an alliance with the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation. The company said the cooperation will look for and focus on ways to increase local farmers' earnings.

Philips reports strong second quarter income

Philips recorded a rise of sales in the second quarter of 2019, the Dutch medical technology company announced. Philips delivered second quarter sales of 4.671 billion euros ($5.239 billion) compared to sales of 4.288 billion euros over the same period last year. The comparable sales growth was 6 percent, 2 percent higher than in the second quarter of last year. "I am pleased with the 6 percent comparable sales growth in the second quarter, with all businesses contributing," CEO Frans van Houten stated in a news release. Net income was 246 million euros in the second quarter, compared with a meager 2 million euros in the second quarter of last year. Income from continuing operations increased to 260 million euros, as against 186 million in the second quarter of 2018.

Finnish firm to build pulp mill in Uruguay

Finnish forestry company UPM announced on Tuesday it will invest $2.7 billion to construct a pulp mill near Paso de los Toros, central Uruguay. The initial annual production capacity of the greenfield eucalyptus pulp mill will be 2.1 million metric tons. In addition, UPM will invest $350 million in port operations in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, and local facilities in Paso de los Toros. The new factory is scheduled to operate in the second half of 2022.The investment will increase the company's current pulp capacity by more than 50 percent, resulting in a step change in the scale of UPM's pulp business as well as in its future earnings, said the company. The company said that the long-term demand outlook of pulp is promising, especially in Asia.

US existing-home sales fall in June

US existing-home sales in June declined 1.7 percent from May, mainly due to insufficient supply of mid-to-lower priced homes, the National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday. Total existing-home sales, referring to completed transactions which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.27 million in June. Sales as a whole were down 2.2 percent from a year ago. "Home sales are running at a pace similar to 2015 levels, even with exceptionally low mortgage rates, a record number of jobs and a record high net worth in the country," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, who attributed the fall of sales to unbalanced housing supply.

EU agri-food exports hit record in May

The European Union successfully maintained its strong upward trend in agri-food exports this year, with exports in May hitting a record, said the monthly agri-food trade report. According to the report, agri-food exports are now doing 13 percent better than that in May last year. The best performing exports include pork meat, spirits and liqueurs, wine and vermouth, and infant food. The most significant export growth is for the United States, China, Japan and Canada. The EU recently signed trade agreements with Japan and Canada. Meanwhile, from June 2018 to May 2019, agri-food imports from third countries witnessed an increase of 3.2 percent compared to June 2017 to May 2018, said the report.

Japan's economy improves, risks remain

Japan's economy has continued to show improvements owing to robust domestic demand, although external global factors and possible downside risks are still being monitored, the government said in a report on Tuesday. According to the Cabinet Office's monthly economic report for July, the government maintained its assessment that Japan's economy is "recovering at a moderate pace", although referenced "weakness continuing mainly in exports". In its June report, the office said that "weakness in exports and industrial production continues". In its latest report, however, weak production was not referenced owing to output in sectors including automobiles recovering.

South Korea posts slump in shipments

South Korea's export posted a double-digit fall for the first 20 days of this month on the continued downturn in the business cycle of the global semiconductor industry, customs office data showed. Exports, which account for about half of the South Korean economy, reached $28.3 billion in the July 1-20 period, down 13.6 percent from the same period of last year, according to Korea Customs Service. Daily average exports declined 16.2 percent to $1.71 billion in the cited period. The country's exports kept diminishing for seven straight months through June. Semiconductor exports tumbled 30.2 percent in the 20-day period on the global memory chip downturn. Oil product shipments contracted 15.6 percent, with the figure for ships sliding 24 percent.

Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover rises

Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover in the first half of 2019 reached $19.68 billion, up $4.52 billion year-on-year, the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan said in a report. Uzbekistan exported goods and services worth $8.44 billion while importing goods and services worth $11.24 billion in the first six months of 2019, according to the report. China topped the list of Uzbekistan's trade partners with a trade turnover of $3.9 billion. Russia was the second-largest partner with $2.9 billion while the third was Kazakhstan with $1.7 billion.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily Global 07/25/2019 page10)