• Copper cathode pricing will remain depressed for the next several months, predicts analyst Martin Squires of Carr Futures in London. "We remain bearish on copper because of supply in excess of demand, and foresee a depressed metal price through the second and third quarters of this year," he says. London Metal Exchange (LME) copper has slipped to 80¢/lb so far this year after averaging 84¢ in 2000.
• Summer gasoline prices will average $1.49 per gallon, forecasts the Energy Information Administration. The revised forecast from the Department of Energy division is 2¢/gallon stronger than an earlier forecast, but lower than last year's $1.53 summertime average. However, the new projection includes a caveat that tightness of domestic supply still leaves the U.S. vulnerable to sharp price run-ups if supply disruptions or bottlenecks occur.
• Most bleached paperboard producers announced first-quarter price hikes of $40-$60/ton, but prices haven't budged. Selling prices remain flat or slightly discounted in most regions of the country because of slow demand, falling pulp prices and oversupply, says analyst Mark Wilde at Deutsche Bank Alex Brown in New York. U.S. bleached board mills operated at just 89% of capacity in first quarter 2001. A minimum of 92% is needed for price hikes to stick.
• Polyethylene (PE) prices could fall despite rising costs for energy feedstocks, suggests analyst Howard Rappaport at Chemical Market Associates in Houston. PE makers have successfully raised prices by an average 8¢/lb so far this year. However, with 1.5 billion lb of new PE capacity being built in the U.S., Rappaport sees lower sales tags ahead. He expects domestic high-density PE prices to hit the mid-30's (¢/lb) vicinity by the middle of next year with linear low-density PE prices slipping to the low 30's and low-density PE prices dipping to the high 30's.
• With supply tightening because of shutdowns, remaining producers of hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) steel products are looking to hike late-spring prices by 6%-8%, depending on grade. That would restore part of the 10%-11% winter price slide. With CSC Ltd. and Qualitech Steel Corp. already shuttered, and NS Group considering an end to SBQ production, sales executive Jeffrey Webb at Ispat Inland Bar Products says, "The marketplace has been altered significantly."

Steelmakers face more price erosion, but some buyers think chemicals and resins makers will eke out more gains.