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By Casey Hall and David Kirton SHANGHAI/GUANGZHOU (Reuters) -Amid the chaos of erratic U.S. tariff announcements, Chinese exporters making everything from kitchen appliances to Halloween decorations have responded by selling more goods to buyers in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Jacky Ren, whose Gstar Electronics Appliance factory used to generate more than 60% of its revenue from U.S. orders, says he has "given up" on the American market. Months of tit-for-tat tariff escalations, de-escalations, a brief truce, and the latest threat of a triple-digit tariff increase on Chinese goods from U.S. President Donald Trump in retaliation for Chinese curbs on rare earths exports, have left Ren feeling "extremely exhausted", and he is seeking out new markets to offset lost orders from U.S. customers. Ren is not alone. Chinese customs data released this week showed exports from the world's second-largest economy have grown 7.1% to 19.95 trillion yuan ($2.80 trillion) in the first nine months of this year, despite a significant drop in goods heading to the United States.  This growth is expected to help China demonstrate the resilience of its economy in the face of geopolitical and trade upheaval when it announces third-quarter GDP data on Monday.  Still, Chinese exporters aren't exactly happy with the situation, even though they have found new markets. "In this environment, where global consumption [of our products] is not enough to replace U.S. demand, our order volume and revenue have plummeted by half," said Lou Xiaobo, who makes Halloween decorations in eastern China and is in Brazil on a market research trip as he looks to sell more to Latin America. As China's entire export-oriented manufacturing sector has pivoted almost simultaneously, competition has eroded prices, making it more difficult for manufacturers to make ends meet. "Losing access to the United States, which is the largest consumer market, is akin to the rail industry losing the locomotive," Ren said, adding that it's becoming increasingly common for exporters to sell at a loss.  "Every market is highly competitive … all we can do is hold on and wait for an opportunity." 'US BUYERS GAVE UP' On Wednesday, the bustling opening day of the autumn edition of southern China's Canton Fair in Guangzhou – the world's largest trade show – all 15 companies Reuters spoke with said they had seen no U.S. buyers. Most noted an uptick in attendees from Brazil, Southeast Asia and Europe. All said they were prioritising market diversification.  "The situation's too unstable. (Trump's) like a child – crying one minute, laughing the next. You can't play along with that," said Cherry Yuan, overseas sales manager at Foshan Greenyellow Electric Technology, a maker of mosquito trapping equipment. Cai Jing, who runs a travel mug company started by her mother and uncle in 1998 that recently started making personal blenders, said export manufacturers have little choice. It hasn't been the decision of Chinese exporters to abandon the U.S. market, Cai said. "Sales to the U.S. have dropped a lot, by around half. It's not that we’re giving up on the U.S. market. It's that U.S. buyers gave up on us." ($1 = 7.1232 yuan) (Reporting by Casey Hall in Shanghai and David Kirton in Guangzhou; Editing by Tom Hogue)

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By Nidhi Verma and Florence Tan NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Two Indian refiners have bought 4 million barrels of Guyanese crude oil from U.S. major Exxon Mobil to be delivered at the end of 2025 or in early 2026, in rare imports from the South American producer, trade sources said on Friday. Indian Oil Corp, the country's largest refiner by capacity, has bought 2 million barrels of Golden Arrowhead (GAH) crude, its first purchase of the grade, which will arrive in late December or in early January, they said on condition of anonymity. Another refiner, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, has bought Liza and Unity Gold crude for the first time, with 2 million barrels set for delivery during the same period, the sources said. India is diversifying its crude supplies by trying out new grades from South America where production is growing. Adding more crude sources would also help refiners to replace some imports of Russian oil. The U.S. is pressuring New Delhi to stop buying Russian crude to help end the war in Ukraine. Guyana is ramping up exports as its oil production from a consortium led by Exxon has risen to 770,000 barrels per day (bpd) following the start-up of the group's fourth floating output facility. The country's crude exports reached an all-time high of 938,000 bpd in October, data from analytics firm Kpler showed, since it started exports of the latest grade GAH in July. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Jamie Freed)

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By Sarah Young and Nora Buli WEST CHILTINGTON, England/OSLO (Reuters) -English winemakers are betting that surging exports can sustain their once novelty product after domestic sales growth slowed, hoping for a boost from Britain's warmest summer on record this year as climate change optimised conditions. Days before pickers started to harvest this year's crop, sparkling wine from southern England beat French Champagne to win one of the industry's most prestigious awards, lifting its prospects in markets like Norway, Japan and China.  Foreign sales have become more important as a subdued economy at home weighs on demand for a premium product. International producers are snapping up the country's increasingly attractive land to produce wine to sell home and abroad. "Export is where the real growth is in the coming period," said Brad Greatrix, senior winemaker at Nyetimber, the English company which became the first non-French winner of the International Wine Challenge sparkling wine award in September.  FROM FAIRWAYS TO VINEYARDS  English wineries started to emerge in the 1990s as adventurous landowners took advantage of warmer summers. Now, on chalky slopes across southern England, vines are being planted on land once used for crops, apple orchards and golf courses. Since 2000, English wine production has risen by an average 7% per year, and is set to keep growing after land dedicated to vines jumped by 30% between 2020 and 2024. However, while British demand has driven growth so far, last year sparkling wine sales – which at 6.2 million bottles accounted for 70% of total wine sales – were flat, down from 11% growth the previous year. In September, Chapel Down, Britain's biggest wine producer, cancelled plans to build a new winery. Nicola Bates, CEO of industry body WineGB, said steady sales were an achievement when restaurants and bars were struggling, and when Champagne shipments to Britain fell 13% last year.  For many consumers English fizz is a luxury product, with the biggest brands Chapel Down and Nyetimber costing 30 pounds ($40) and 42 pounds respectively per bottle, similar to Champagnes. With more vines being planted, Bates said, "we need to be growing sales at a faster pace for mid- to long-term health". NORWEGIANS REQUESTING ENGLISH WINE Though some winemakers will not sell this year's prized vintage for several years, exports are a bright spot they hope to build on. Export volumes grew 35% to account for 9% of total sales of English wine in 2024, and Bates said she was targeting doubling that figure by 2030. Norway tops the list of buyers by volume. Its imports of English sparkling wine jumped to 111,639 litres last year from 451 litres in 2015, according to its wine monopoly, the single state body allowed to import wine and spirits. That growth is far ahead of rises from other countries, said Arnt Egil Nordlien, the monopoly's head of product. Aleksander Iversen, a sommelier at Brasserie Coucou in Oslo, says Norwegians are open-minded and curious about wine. Some customers specifically request English wines while others discover it on recommendation. "Most are surprised by the quality, they often remark that it rivals top Champagne, but with its own unique character," he said.  MORE UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER This year, English vineyards have experienced "almost perfect growing season conditions", said Alistair Nesbitt, chief executive at Vinescapes, a viticulture consultancy. The average temperature in southern England during the spring to autumn grape growing season has increased by 1 to 1.5 degrees Celsius over the last 40 to 50 years, he said, but it's not always straightforward. Climate change means more unpredictable weather events and that is also affecting England. Persistent wet weather in 2024, for example, hit the grape harvest, cutting production by half compared to the previous year. While climate change means more variability for wine producers globally, Nesbitt said cooler climates like England have the advantage over areas in southern Europe, which are being hit by more frequent droughts and heatwaves.  Wine producers from the U.S., France and Australia started buying English land around a decade ago, with French Champagne house Taittinger acquiring a site in 2015 and California's Jackson Family Wines establishing a presence in 2023. "If you're in a real climate-stressed area of the world, and you want to keep your wine production enterprise going, you look to cooler areas like the UK," he said. ($1 = 0.7493 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young and Gerhard Mey in London, Nora Buli and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo, Writing by Sarah Young; Editing by Aidan Lewis)

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By Hyunjoo Jin and Brenda Goh SEOUL/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Micron plans to stop supplying server chips to data centres in China after the business failed to recover from a 2023 government ban on its products in critical Chinese infrastructure, two people briefed on the decision said. Micron was the first U.S. chipmaker to be targeted by Beijing – a move that was seen as retaliatory for a series of curbs by Washington aimed at impeding tech progress by China's semiconductor industry. Since then, both Nvidia and Intel chips have similarly fielded accusations from Chinese authorities and an industry group of posing security risks, though there has not been any regulatory action. LENOVO TO REMAIN A CUSTOMER Micron will continue to sell to two Chinese customers that have significant data centre operations outside China, one of which is laptop maker Lenovo, the people said. The U.S. company, which made $3.4 billion or 12% of its total revenue from mainland China in its last business year, will also continue to sell chips to auto and mobile phone sector customers in the world's second-largest economy, one person said. Asked about the exit from its China data centre business, Micron said in a statement to Reuters that the division had been impacted by the ban, and it abides by applicable regulations where it does business. Lenovo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S.-Sino trade tensions and tech rivalry have only escalated since 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs on Chinese goods during his first term. That same year, Washington ramped up accusations against Chinese tech giant Huawei, accusing it of representing a national security risk, imposing sanctions a year later. Huawei has denied those charges. Nvidia and Intel have also denied charges that their products pose risks to Chinese national security. Micron also said in 2023, before the conclusion of China's probe, that it stood by the security of its products. Currently, the U.S. has sanctioned hundreds of Chinese entities. China, which is more reliant on imported tech, has taken far fewer regulatory actions. LOSING OUT ON CHINA'S AI BOOM The ban on Micron products in critical infrastructure by China – the world's second-largest market for server memory – has meant the company has missed out on the country's data centre expansion boom. That's benefited rivals Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as well as Chinese companies YMTC and CXMT, which have been aggressively expanding with the support of the Chinese government. Investment by data centres used in computing in China surged ninefold to 24.7 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) last year, according to a Reuters review of government procurement documents. That said, Micron's challenges in China have been offset by huge demand for data centres and related tools elsewhere, thanks to the global adoption of artificial intelligence. That's helped the company report record quarterly revenue. According to a third source, Micron's data centre team in China employs over 300 people. Reuters was not able to immediately establish how many jobs may be affected. Micron has been downsizing in other areas in China. In August, it laid off a few hundred people in its universal flash storage programme after deciding to cease development of future mobile NAND products globally, according to the South China Morning Post. Areas where it has continued to expand in China include its chip packaging facility in the city of Xian. "We have a strong operating and customer presence in China, and China remains an important market for Micron and the semiconductor industry in general," Micron said in its statement to Reuters. ($1 = 7.1224 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul, Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Liam Mo in Beijing; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Edwina Gibbs)

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