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Detroit Diesel Corp. said it will submit its first heavy-duty 2010 engine for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency certification during September, joining Cummins Inc., Mack Trucks Inc. and Volvo Trucks North America, which already have submitted applications to the agency.

The average retail price of U.S. diesel continued a slow upward creep last week, rising 1.6 cents a gallon to $2.668, a pace fleets said gives them some stability amid recession-driven volume and pricing challenges.

U.S. biodiesel production has been rocketing upward in each of the past 10 years and reached 690 million gallons last year, but industry officials and analysts said it would drop this year by half to 350 million gallons or as low as 250 million gallons.

Diesel prices rose for a fourth straight week, gaining 2.7 cents to its highest price in nine months, $2.652 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Aug. 17.

A proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule designed to expand biofuel use actually has brought the biodiesel market “to a grinding halt,” because it does not allow most blends of soy oil, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

The average retail price of a gallon of diesel in the United States rose 7.5 cents last week to $2.625, the highest level this year, the Energy Department reported.