[KMTS ➅] Korea Automobile Production & Exports in 2013

Korean Car Export Amount Hits New Peak at US$48.7 Bil.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Yoon Sang-jick) has announced that based on the preliminary estimates, production of cars decreased by 0.9%, and exports and domestic sales decreased by 2.7% and 0.3%, respectively, in 2013.

The production volume was 4,521,638 units in 2013, a year-on-year decrease of 0.9% and a second consecutive year of declining production, due to major manufacturers’ closing on weekends and partial strikes, which have caused a production loss of 200,000 units, coupled with poor sales.

The export volume for 2013 was 3,086,394 units, a year-on-year decrease of 2.7%, and recorded a decline for the first time in four years since 2009 due to the high won and low yen trend, expanded global uncertainties and supply problems of major manufacturers. Nevertheless, the export amount of finished cars (based on MTI 741) reached a record-high level of USD 48.7 billion with a year-on-year increase of 3.1%, thanks to growth in the market share of large passenger vehicles and RVs.

By region, exports of Korean cars were robust in the US market, which has shown a stable economic recovery, and grew in the EU and in Asia, reflecting the economic growth. However, exports declined in Latin America and Eastern Europe due to expanding local production. In China, which accounts for half of all exports to Asia, exports grew by 13.2%, prompted by growing demand caused by the urbanization of inland regions.

By vehicle type, light vehicles with high fuel efficiency thrived due to global economic uncertainties, while large vehicles grew thanks to an improvement in the brand image of Korean cars. SUVs and CDVs have also recorded growth as global demand has grown. Mid-sized and small-sized vehicles decreased as Japanese manufacturers recovered their competitiveness and adopted an aggressive sales promotion strategy, making the most of the low yen.

2013 domestic sales was 1,537,590 units, showing a slight year-on-year decrease of 0.3% and a second consecutive year of decline, due to delays in the economic recovery and advance demands in the 4th quarter of 2012 prompted by individual consumption tax cuts. Despite the launch of popular new SUVs and CDVs, the growing demand for light commercial vehicles and active marketing from the industry, mid-sized, light and small-sized vehicles have seen a decline due to the overall market demand decline and the aging of key models.

Sales of imported cars was 156,497 units with year-on-year growth of 19.6% as diverse new vehicles with a focus on the below-2,000cc class were launched and demand among consumers in their 20s and 30s grew. Over 10,000 units were sold monthly throughout the year.

Meanwhile, the domestic automobile market increased production by 4.3%, exports by 4.5% and domestic sales by △6.9% in December 2013, compared to the same month in the previous year.

[KMTI ➄] Korea's exports and imports of parts & materials in 2013

Korea's Parts & Materials Trade Tops US$428.6 Bil. in 2013

Korea's exports and imports of parts & materials in 2013 increased 3.8% year-on-year to US$263.1 billion and 1.9% year-on-year to US$165.5 billion, respectively.

Of particular note, the export value of the parts and materials industry in 2013 was the highest in history, accounting for 47% of the nation's total industrial export amount (US$559.7 billion). Furthermore, the industry's trade surplus reached US$976 billion, more than double the combined trade surplus of all industries (US$44.1 billion).

By business type, whereas parts & materials export growth in 2013 was led by electronic parts (up 57% year-on-year), electrical machinery parts (up 9%), chemical compounds & products (up 15%) and nonmetallic minerals (up 7%), export declines were witnessed in primary metals (-25%), general machinery parts (-17%) and assembly metal products (-8%) compared with 2012.

In terms of region, the trade balance in 2013 improved over 2012 with emerging markets, Latin America (up 16%), Southeast Asia (up 30%), etc., including China (up 38%).

In 2013, China, Korea's biggest trade partner, became the largest export destination for the parts & materials field with exports of US$91.5 billion. It was analyzed that closer trade relations would be required in the future as trade surpluses continued centering on high value-added business types, such as electronic parts and chemical products.

Korea's parts & materials trade balance with Japan recorded a deficit of US$20.5 billion (exports: US$13.9 billion, imports: US$34.4 billion) in 2013, sustaining the trade imbalance. However, the trade deficit scale in parts & materials declined for the third consecutive year and the import dependence level on Japanese products in the field also recorded a historic low of 20.8% in 2013.

The improvement in Korea's parts & materials trade deficit with Japan owed to the strengthened competitiveness of Korean parts & materials industry, a slowdown in import volume by demand industries like shipbuilding and automobiles and diversification of import sources.

In 2014, Korea's parts & materials industry is expected to realize US$275 billion in exports and US$173.8 billion in imports amid a mild growth trend of the global economy following the recovery of advanced economies.

[Matchmaking4U] Exhibition (14) MachineWorks

MachineWorks exhibiting 

its new controller-based simulation at SIMTOS

Sheffield - 24th January, 2014 - MachineWorks Ltd, leading provider of CNC simulation & verification and polygonal mesh processing software, will be presenting new functionality at SIMTOS specifically suited to CNC controllers. MachineWorkshas achieved significant improvement in the performance for controller-based simulation thanks to the ingenious usage of memory. "The key is always to adjust to your environment and work with what you've got", says Mike Nicholson, Sales Director of MachineWorks, "when we started developing MachineWorks 20 years ago, we worked with computers that had very little memory or processing power; applying this expertise through years of optimisation, we have achieved extraordinary speed in CNC controllers with complex toolpaths". MachineWorks analyses the input data on the fly to decide which will be the most efficient use of processing power for each set of data. Sometimes the optimal way may be, for example, merging cuts together. This will improve speed and reduce memory usage. The improvement is particularly noticeable in toolpaths which are sampled, as in controller-based simulations where the original toolpath data is not known, and the data passed to MachineWorks is just a stream of sampled tool locations. In these cases, a long cut may be split into tens or hundreds of small sections. MachineWorks can examine these points and determine that they are all part of the same original cut. This can result in a significant time saving, with some of our test data shows increased performance by a factor of 10. In addition, MachineWorks is now supporting the use of mobile operating devices which offers flexible solutions for the shop floor. To get a more detailed view of MachineWorks latest controller simulation advancements, find the team at SIMTOS on hall 9, stand F30 from the 9th -13th April.

About MachineWorks Ltd.

MachineWorks Software sets the standard for CNC simulation and verification component software in the industry. More than 60% of CAM developers in the world have integrated MachineWorks technology into their applications and benefited from MachineWorks’ cutting-edge functionality for nearly 20 years. MachineWorks’ toolkit has been integrated by software and hardware OEMs looking for a solution in simulation of material removal and clash and gouge detection of any type of CNC machining. MachineWorks’ core technology combines speed, accuracy and stability. It is ideally suited for anti-crash systems, complex machining and full machine simulation.
For more information on MachineWorks visit http://www.machineworks.com/

About Polygonica

The Polygonica Toolkit provides polygon modelling component software for industries such as CAD/CAM/CAE, CFD/FEA meshing, reverse engineering, rapid prototyping, 3D printing, 3D movies and gaming, geo-exploring, urban modelling and other 3D digital applications.
For more information on Polygonica visit http://www.polygonica.com/

See the MachineWorks team at SIMTOS,Hall 9 Stand F30.

[KMTI ➃] Korean Machine Tool Exports in 2013

Korean Machine Tool Exports Plunge 13.4% in 2013

Korean machine tool exports in 2013 fell 13.4% year-on-year to US$2.21 billion. This is attributed to comparatively large declines in the Asian market, including China and India, as well as in the Latin American market, including Brazil, due to the growth slowdown of the global economy.

Exports to the United States in 2013 were sound compared with other regions, with the monthly export total exceeding US$200 million continuously through the second quarter, but weakened after entering the third quarter.

In the case of exports to Europe, uncertainties continued due to the European economic crisis. In the second half, however, exports to parts of the region, Germany, Italy, Russia, etc., grew, showing improvement.

In terms of exports by item, exports of both NC lathes and machining centers in 2013 decreased year-on-year, but exports of presses grew with automobile-related exports expanding to China, India, etc. Meanwhile, exports of boring machines, grinding machines, milling machines and general purpose lathes all recorded double-digit declines compared with 2012.

[KMTI ➂] Korean machine tool production in 2013

Korean Machine Tool Production Hits US$5.81 Tril.

Korean machine tool production in 2013 is estimated to have declined 9.6% year-on-year, recording 5.81 trillion won, due to the continuation of uncertainties in internal and external economic environments. Affected by a slowdown in domestic facility investment and export decline to major overseas markets, Korean machine tool production suffered a reduction for the first time in four years since the 2009 U.S. financial crisis triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Based on KOMMA member company data, machine tool production from January to October 2013 decreased 12.8% year-on-year to about 2.62 trillion won and shipments also decreased 12.8% year-on-year.

In particular, production of three key items - NC lathes (-6.9%), machining centers (-6.6%) and presses (-15.9%) - in the first 10 months of 2013 posted a year-on-year decline of 8.0%.

[KMTI ➁] Korean Receipt of Machine Tool Orders in 2013

Korean Receipt of Machine Tool Orders Sluggish in 2013

The economic recovery is anticipated to continue, with domestic demand including consumption and investment improving and the export momentum being maintained.
Looking at the sectoral contributions to growth on the expenditure side, those of domestic demand (1.8%p) and of exports (2.0%p) will be generally similar.

Korean producers' receipt of machine tool orders (based on KOMMA member companies) from January through October 2013 amounted to about 3.16 trillion won, up 5.0% from 2012. If project-type orders are excluded, however, orders recorded a year-on-year decrease of 2.1%.

Declines in demand of equipment for development of new domestic cars and for facility investment by manufacturing businesses had significant impacts on domestic demand, while a portion of the project-type orders affected export demand.

In terms of demander business type, the ratios of automobile & parts and general machinery industries ranked No. 1 and No. 2 at 33.3% and 18.1%, respectively.

Nevertheless, demand from automotive businesses posted a slowdown for the second consecutive year since 2011, experiencing a year-on-year decline of 5.9% while its ratio also decreased 2.8 percentage points. In contrast, electrical, electronic and IT business demand expanded 51.7% year-on-year, posting a similar level as in 2011.

[Notice] The Schedule to Place Order for Use of Utility Facilities and other Forms

Here is the following schedule to place the order for use of utility facilities as below.

• 1^st order of utility facilities by Feb 14^th on this Friday.
• Closed SIMTOS online system from Feb 15 to 23 and issue the invoice of 1^st order for utility facilities to exhibitors. è Payment due by Mar. 14^th

• 2^nd order of utility facilities from Feb 24^th to Mar. 7 by online through SIMTOS website (login necessary) and modify 1^st order if necessary.
•   Closed SIMTOS online system from Mar 8 to 16 and issue the invoice of 2^nd order of utility facilities to exhibitors.    è Payment due by Mar. 28^th
•   Last order of utility facilities from Mar 17^th ~Mar. 31^th  è Payment before Move- in date

Additionally, we require exhibitors for “Raw Stand” to submit the form – 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18 and exhibitors for “Shell Stand” to submit the form – 2, 5, 7, 11, 12, 18.

• Submit Form 5, 11, 12, 18 by online through SIMTOS website (login necessary)
• Submit Form 6, 7, 9,10 by fax è you can download the form on SIMTOS website (http://c.simtos.org/eng/exhibitor/FormDownload.do)
• Submit Form 2 for admission badges for resident exhibitor by mail (simtos2014@simtos.org)   -  scanning date or images for resident exhibitor’ name cards in English version.  

[KMTI ➀] Korean Economic Forecast 2014

Korean Economy is Expected to Grow 3.8% in 2014

The Korean economy is expected to post a year-on-year rate of growth of 3.8% in 2014 compared with 2.8% growth in 2013, the Bank of Korea(BoK) announced on Jan9.

The economic recovery is anticipated to continue, with domestic demand including consumption and investment improving and the export momentum being maintained.
Looking at the sectoral contributions to growth on the expenditure side, those of domestic demand (1.8%p) and of exports (2.0%p) will be generally similar.
The rate of growth of gross domestic income (GDI) (4.8%) will exceed that of GDP (3.8%) in 2014, as in 2013, due to improvements in the terms of trade as a result of unit import price stability owing for example to the decline in international oil prices.
The 2013 and 2014 GDP growth forecasts (2.8%, 3.8%) remain unchanged from those drawn up in October 2013, as positive factors such as updates reflecting the actual performance figures and the downward adjustments of international commodity prices, and negative factors including the weakening of the yen offset each other.
The ratio of the current account surplus to GDP is projected to fall from 5.7~5.8 percent in 2013 to4.1~4.2 percent in 2014, and then to 3.1~3.2 percent in 2015.
The current account surplus is forecast to stand at 55.0 billion dollars in 2014, larger than the October 2013 forecast.
In terms of the future growth path, the risks are assessed as neutral, as downside risks including global financial market unrest following QE tapering, the possibility of heightened volatility of the yen, and North-Korea related geopolitical risks, and upside risks such as growth trend accelerations in the US and EU are seen as likely to balance each other out.
As for the price path, there are both upside risks, such as a jump in agricultural product prices caused by bad weather conditions, and downside risks including declines in international commodity prices due to a slowing of the global economic recovery, but taken as a whole the risks are appraised as neutral.

[Matchmaking4U]Exhibitor (13) JUNKER Group Company

About JUNKER Group Company

- Grinding is our world, Driven by perfection

The JUNKER Group

For 50 years now, JUNKER technology has been a shaping influence in the grinding industry. The JUNKER Group’s technological innovations and grinding solutions are developed in Germany and the Czech Republic and implemented around the globe. The corporate headquarters in Nordrach, Germany, provide strategic direction for our 12 production and distribution locations, as well as our global service network. At 50 years old, JUNKER is doing great - 1,200 employees, over 200 million Euro in annual revenue, a high equity ratio and over 150 machine configurations to match even the most sophisticated customer demands. JUNKER has filed patents for over 80 inventions. These include such revolutionary innovations as the QUICKPOINT method. With achievements like these to its name, the JUNKER Group can look forward to a bright future.

Technologies for all applications and branches of industry

The JUNKER Group offers a range of machines featuring efficient grinding solutions for every branch of precision grinding. Specially tailored, customer-specific solutions allow us to meet any requirement. JUNKER offers innovative grinding solutions for everything from small series to sophisticated production lines for mass production. Both small to medium-sized businesses and global corporations count on the quality and capability of the JUNKER Company. Since 1962, JUNKER has sold over 4,000 machines throughout the world. Now, wind generators, solar modules, pumps and electrical engines are also being equipped with precision parts ground on JUNKER machines

The JUNKER Technology Center

The JUNKER Technology Centers at our headquarters in Nordrach, Germany, and at our plant in Holice, Czech Republic, house a wide array of JUNKER grinding machines available for demonstrations and customer-specific grinding tests. Quality analysis is also performed at the Technology Centers, using the latest in measurement methods. For many potential and current customers, this means an opportunity to test out the technical and commercial capabilities of the JUNKER machines on their own workpieces. The JUNKER Technology Centers are at the heart of research and development. They are also used for baseline testing of grinding technology on new workpieces and for developing individual grinding solutions. Unique machine concepts are also conceived here for many manufacturers.

Faster service world-wide

The JUNKER Group also offers JUNKER Premium Service, which includes training, hotline access, maintenance and spare parts services, production assistance and process optimization. These services ensure that JUNKER machines offer maximum availability. The value of an existing machine can also be increased through targeted optimization and upgrades. JUNKER Premium Service means fast, expert assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, world-wide. It assures productivity and increases planning reliability.

Erwin Junker Maschinenfabrik GmbH

Junkerstraße 2, 77787 Nordrach, Germany
Phone : +49 (0)7838 84-0
Email : info@junker.de
Website : www.junker-group.com