AUTOMOTIVE/OEM
Automotive/OEM
BUYING ENERGY
BUYING STRATEGY FORECAST
BUYLINES
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
COMPUTERS, PERIPHERALS & SOFTWARE
CPI EDITION
CPI Edition
CPI EDITION
CPI Edition
Departments
ELECTRONICS
ELECTRONICS PURCHASING
INSIDE PURCHASING
| JOB SCENE
METALS
MRO/DISTRIBUTION
OFFICE PRODUCTS & BUSINESS SYSTEMS
ON THE INTERNET
Personal computers
PRODUCT UPDATE
PROFILE 1999
PURCHASING HOTLINE - Do you think your company is a great place for a purchasing professional to work?
- Microprocessors based on 0.18 micron process technology could push prices down in coming years
- Expect big increases in office rental rates in big cities
- Count on growing demand for oil-refinery construction and equipment for next several years
- Plan on surge in intermodal traffic from New York and New Jersey ports
- Minimum wage will go up in 2000
- Is your MRO buying strategic--or do you just wing it?
- Are you an "exporter?"
- Expect intermodal upgrades at ports to continue for some time into future
- Expect more increases in health insurance costs, possibly as much as 15% next year
- Shippers should expect air traffic congestion in Europe to stay messed up for some time
- What's your favorite Web site? Purchasing's December 16 issue will include readers' opinions on what sites are their favorites and why
- Count on recovering Asian markets and strong growth in telecommunications to help push demand for personal computers
- Expect electronic business processes established by RosettaNet to become defacto standard
- Look for stricter enforcement of trucking violations
- Have technology products you buy been Y2K tested?
- Don't miss the 1999 Purchasing Conference
- Expect cold-rolled steel sheet pricing to remain low
- Look for chlorine prices to begin to rebound
- If you want to know what to expect in purchasing over the next decade
- Keep an eye on bill that would allow states to increase allowable truck weights by more than 20%
- Expect more deals like one between Fujitsu and Siemans
- Shippers want faster express delivery services
- Fastener quality will remain largely self-regulated by industry
- Look for electronic commerce standard framework by fall
- Are you using pirated software?
- Supplies of electric power should be better this year than last
- Count on speedier Internet service to spread quickly
- Expect electronic commerce service providers to create self-regulating rules to protect user privacy
- Electronics buyers: Expect feds to slap dumping duties on drams from Taiwan
- Get up to speed on the Internet with Purchasing's new book on Internet-based procurement
- Expect air cargo capacity glut to continue
- Internet-related revenue will "explode" in next couple of years
- Visit Purchasing's Web site at www.purchasing.com
- Count on more job-discrimination complaints
- Expect aluminum supplies to be plentiful into middle of next year
- Discount talk of automotive strikes this year
- Don't expect government to tighten export controls on high-tech products to China too much
Economy - Most economies in the Asia-Pacific region are likely to improve in 1999
- U.S. first quarter GDP growth estimate was revised down from an annual rate of +4.5% to +4.1%
- American incomes climbed 4.4% in 1998, significantly outpacing inflation
- Not all regions enjoy nonexistent consumer inflation
- The Conference Board's (CB) index of 10 leading economic indicators fell 0.1% in the latest month
- PMs predict strong second half, weak inflation
- Fastest falling product prices in May
Markets - Business travelers--who don't appreciate paying extra to go online--are becoming increasingly annoyed with hotel telephone surcharges
- The U.S. is poised to pass the Year 2000 milestone with minimal problems thanks to often costly and time-consuming fixes
- A record domestic auto sales year "is within reach," says Ford marketing chief Bob Rewey
- National labor talks between Detroit's automakers and the United Auto Workers union have begun against a backdrop of record-breaking sales that have left General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler flush with cash
- The DRAM glut in U.S. markets could moderate when Commerce imposes punitive tariffs on Korean chips
- Airbus Industrie now sees a softer-than-expected downturn in the aerospace industry, says Chairman Noel Forgeard
- The Internet's impact on society and how it is changing the world economy will be tracked in a study funded in part by rivals America Online and Microsoft
- Companies that purchase the right to drill for natural gas can claim billions of dollars worth of methane gas found with coal under federal land
- Siemens Diesel Systems Technology will build a $100 million plant in South Carolina
- Home sales should hit record levels for a fourth consecutive year even if the U.S. economy cools down
- The technology segment of U.S. industry has created a million jobs in the U.S. since 1993
- AlliedSignal is buying Honeywell for $14.82 billion in stock, strengthening its aerospace business with the addition of Honeywell's control systems
- Acer Group and IBM have formed a technology alliance
- Almost 40% of business software installed worldwide in 1998 was pirated
- The National Association of Home Builders has boosted its 1999 housing starts forecast to 1.627 million units
- Corrugated box shipments are stronger than last year
- Merger talks between Chevron and Texaco have halted amid disagreements over the complexity of the deal
- Justice and the European Commission have initiated an antitrust investigation of the bromine business
- The computer industry's shift to selling systems and not just personal computers should trigger strong second-half sales
- Major international oil firms are maintaining a tight leash on spending, raising concerns as to the impact on world oil supplies, says the International Energy Agency, energy watchdog for the West
- Air Products and Chemicals will expand triethylenediamine catalyst capacity at its Paulsboro, N.J.
Prices - Sales tags for carbon cold-rolled steel sheet are stuck at $380/ton
- With business travelers complaining loudly, major airlines cancelled 4% summer fare hikes
- Boston is the city with the most expensive office space in the nation
- Mills have announced a $40/ton price increase for folding cartonboard grades
- A $40 forms bond increase took effect in June
- Compaq Computer has introduced a "barebones" Presario 5300 line of personal computers
- Indium buyers report a softening of spot pricing due to excess domestic and imported supply
- Ferrovanadium prices are stuck at $5.10-$5.25/lb for 80% material
- A June price increase on envelope paper grades has flopped. Buyers think the mills will try
- Coated and uncoated free-sheet paper prices are moving up
- Nucor has cut $30/ton from its price for wide-flange steel beams produced at its new light sections mill in Berkeley County, S.C.
- Spot prices for corrugating medium have crept up $5/ton, but that's nowhere near the $30/ton price hike proposed for May shipments
- Copper prices will rally to $2,500/metric ton ($1.13/lb) by the end of 2001
- Once a luxury, wireless phone service is storming the mass market as prices drop
- Average newsprint prices have plunged $40/ton since the first quarter
- Rules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would have callers to wireless phones, rather than receivers, foot the bills
- Iridium is cutting commercial service prices worldwide for its satellite phone service
PURCHASING SOFTWARE NEWS
Recycling resources
SUPPLY INSIGHTS
TRANSPORTATION
Transportation '99
|
