Purchasing - February 12, 1998
AUTOMOTIVE/OEM
BUYING ENERGY
BUYLINES
CHEMFORECAST
Computers, Business Systems and Office Products
CPI Edition
Electronics Purchasing
HOTLINE - Count on falling disk drive tags through at least the first half of the year
- Expect communications equipment makers to increase use of srams
- Disregard talk of dram shortages--for the foreseeable future
- Need to learn the latest trends in semiconductors and electronic commerce?
- Don't be too surprised to see more price cutting on liquid crystal displays (LCDs)
- Look for osha to issue new regulations this spring on worker exposure to chemicals(LCDs)
- How does the design-procurement connection work in your company?
- Be prepared to see development of another plastic resin pricing trough
- Anticipate a big pick-up in steel dumping suits this year
- Don't be surprised to see titanium alloy shortages on the West Coast drag into next summer
- Quality is the most important factor when purchasers buy drams, srams, and other memory ICs
- Expect world propylene prices to fall substantially over the next four years--by as much as 4cents/lb
- Look for new delivery confirmation service from the Post Office
- Don't rule out further cuts in ocean container freight rates for cargo moving between U.S. East Coast and South America
- Meanwhile, keep an eye on the growing opposition of shippers in the Pacific to signing conference-wide contracts
- Be prepared for more upward price movement on corrugated and solid fiber boxes
- Expect demand growth for pulp mill products to tail off from 1997's relatively high rate of 5.3%
- Anticipate that the dollar will continue to strengthen over the next several months
- Watch caustic soda market
ECONOMY - Talk about the deflation threat started in 1997
- Final PPI data is in for 1997
- Home builders are expressing extraordinary confidence
- Import prices fell 4.9% for the year ending December 1997
- Here are some excerpts from the Fed's latest take on national economic conditions
Markets - Ford Motor Co., German automaker Daimler-Benz, and Canadian fuel-cell developer Ballard Power Systems will spend $420 million
- Canadian paper makers Cascades and Domtar have created the Montreal-based Norampac containerboard group
- Wellman will expand its domestic PET packaging resin capacity by 250 million lb/year
- Minorco of Luxembourg has shut its New York trading office
- Reynolds Metals is negotiating the sale of its global can business to Ball Corp.
- PC sales growth could slip
- Big Three auto makers plan little change in first-quarter North American production schedules
- Offshore oil/gas drilling has increased by 30% since 1994
- U.S. sales of cars and light trucks are expected to drop 2%
- Alcoa has called off its proposed purchase of an Alabama aluminum sheet rolling mill
- Corrugated box shipments through November registered a 2.9% advance
- U.S. capacity growth for pulp, paper, and paperboard is expected to fall below historic norms
- The Asian economic mess has analysts questioning the SIA's projected 17% climb in 1998 world semiconductor sales
- Since Asia accounts for 54% of global semiconductor capital expenditures
- Demand is sizzling in the highly competitive market for aluminized sheet steel
- Production of paper and paperboard through October 1997 totaled 75.1 million tons
- Natural gas supplies will be adequate and cheap this winter
- After completing its $285 million purchase of the Boston-New York-Washington shuttle
- World demand for fluoropolymers rose to 71,000 tons last year
- Forty-three percent of U.S. households now have a personal computer
Prices - Wolverine Tube wants to raise strip, rod, and bar product prices this month by 4%-5%
- Market prices for glycerine will continue to slide in 1998
- Intel will continue its aggressive Pentium II price-cutting program
- Watch for more increases in cold-finished steel bars
- Tool & die steel producers are looking for a 3% hike on specialty grades this month
- There's a bit of discounting in cut-size office paper
- opec recently raised its production cap to almost 28 million barrels/day
- Price-cutting remains rampant throughout the computer disk-drive market
- BHP, the world's second largest copper producer, expects cathode prices to stay low
- The average price of unleaded gasoline closed 1997 at $1.22/gallon
- Softwood pulp will fall to $550/metric ton in early 1998
- North American pulp buyers are lobbying for a $30-$40/metric ton decrease in transaction prices
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