Look for hot-rolled sheet steel prices to drop 21% to $300/ton by the end of next year. Reason: The World Trade Organization is expected to strike down the Bush tariffs as illegal by the middle of next year. Some idled U.S. production will also return to action by then.

Suppliers are still pushing for higher titanium dioxide prices, but supplies are easing. As a result, don't look for any big movement in prices for the near-term. Leadtimes, as tracked by PURCHASING, have dropped for each of the past four months.

Leadtimes for key polyethylenes stretched last month, but were still below their highs for the year. Producers pushed a nickel price hike proposed for August into September and, at press time, it wasn't clear where prices had settled. Forty-seven percent of buyers expected a price increase in LDPE in September, while none expected a decrease.

Find out what it takes to be recognized as the very best. Stories on past PURCHASING Medal of Professional Excellence winners are compiled in two volumes: The Book of Winners and The Book of Winners 2nd Edition. Both can be ordered through the bookstore.

Wish list. Buyers want chemical distributors to offer more customer services, such as consignment agreements and on-line ordering. That's one of the findings of a new survey that will be featured at www.purchasing.com next month. One distributor taking action right now is CHEMCENTRAL, which is implementing a new regionalization plan to enhance customer focus. John R. Yanney, CHEMCENTRAL CEO and president, indicated that "Regionalization helps get our sales and marketing people out of office administration and into the field to do what they do best: service the marketplace."

Are you being asked to assume responsibility for a growing number of nontraditional services buys—temporary help, travel, employee benefits, marketing and promotion? More buyers are taking on the challenge of consolidating their companies' services purchase, and at American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Bank of Boston, Brunswick Corp., Walt Disney World and others they are doing so with much success. PURCHASING Magazine's Strategies for Nontraditional Buying book shows how these companies buy services, energy, PCs and software, and office equipment and supplies. Go to Purchasing.com's Bookstore and ORDER TODAY!