To: positive-futures@igc.topica.com
From: David MacClement 
Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 05:29:18 +1200 (NZST)
Subject: High demand, low supply (of steel): rising prices

~ An item about the effect of _rapidly_increasing_demand_ for steel in China, was on our NZ National Radio News a few days ago; below is from two Bloomberg articles. Grain prices, oil prices, etc. are going up for similar reasons: too-high a demand from USA, China, Japan and Europe.    D.M.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aiVLmSvzOx3k&refer=uk
     has:

 Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Corus Group Plc, the U.K.'s biggest steelmaker, on Thursday may report its first profit since the company's creation five yyears ago after steel prices surged and Chief Executive Officer Philippe Varin cut jobs, closed mills and sold units.

Earnings probably reached 49 million pounds ($87 million) in the first half, according to the median estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The London-based company increased steel prices twice in the six months through June to cover costs of raw materials such as coking coal. 
 ...
 European steelmakers will raise prices again in October. Corus has said it plans to boost prices for strip steel used in everything from cars to refrigerators by 6 percent as economic growth in China spurs global demand. Benchmark export prices for European hot-rolled coil have risen 93 percent this year, to $590 a metric ton, according to Metal Bulletin.
 ...
Price Increases

Corus and other European steelmakers such as Arcelor SA and ThyssenKrupp AG have already won another price increase for the third quarter and plan one for the fourth. 
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http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=ax._WGgvRCFE&refer=europe
    has:

Electrolux Profit to Fall on Steel; Shares Decline (Update12)

Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Electrolux AB, the world's biggest maker of household appliances, said earnings will fall more than forecast this year as ssteel costs surge, causing the stock's biggest decline in almost a year.

The cost of making refrigerators, stoves and washing machines will rise by 1.2 billion Swedish kronor ($160 million) in the second half after steel prices reached record ...
 ...
 ``There are some real concerns in consumer staples,'' said Michael Hughes, chief investment officer at Baring Asset Management in London, which manages about $35 billion. ``All these are companies that are experiencing increases in costs that they can't pass on to clients.''
 ...
 Shares of Electrolux fell 11.5 kronor, or 8.1 percent, to 131 in Stockholm, the most since Oct. 21, 2003. The stock has declined 17 percent this year.

Maytag has fallen 33 percent since the start of the year. Spokeswoman Lynne Dragomier didn't return a call seeking comment.

Whirlpool Corp. has fallen 15 percent. Spokesman Steve Duthie said the U.S. company is facing profit-margin pressure from logistical and material costs. Stainless-steel costs rose ...
 ...
 Steel Prices

Electrolux's origins date back to 1910, when Swedish salesman Axel Wenner-Gren saw an American-made vacuum cleaner in a Viennese store window and got the idea to sell the cleaners door-to-door using a technique he learned in the U.S. By the 1920s, he even secured the blessing of Pope Pius XI to vacuum the Vatican for a year.

The company is one of Europe's biggest users of steel, and like Maytag and Whirlpool, it's facing higher prices as the cost of raw materials such as coking coal is buoyed by demand in China.

Benchmark export prices for European hot-rolled coil have risen 93 percent this year to $590 a metric ton, according to Metal Bulletin, a London-based publisher of metals data. Arcelor SA, Corus Group Plc and other European steelmakers next month plan to raise prices for the fourth time this year.
 ...

©2004 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved.
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sent-on to PF by David.
(David MacClement) - Civis Mundi  d1v9d @ bigfoot.com
ZL1ASX http://www.geocities.com/davd.geo/index.html

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