Purchasing articles from July 2004

Purchasing archives from July 2004

Purchasingdata.com's forward demand indicator 90-day.(Tip sheet: key metrics and supply alert)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
July 15, 2004... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Industrial purchasing is adopting a cautionary buying stance, despite increases in business confidence. Manufacturing expansion widens Up Down Same Index Trend Business...

Connector sales are cooling, but remain up over 2003.(Tip sheet: key metrics and supply alert)(Bishop & Associates)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... * Connector sales are cooling, but remain up over 2003. The connector industry book-to-bill ratio was 1.01 in May compared to 1.05 in April. Sales were down 6.5% compared to April, but up 20.4% from May 2003, according to researcher Bishop &...

Expect semiconductor companies to reduce their capital spending as a percent ot sales.(Tip sheet: key metrics and supply alert)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... * Expect semiconductor companies to reduce their capital spending as a percent ot sales. Reason: Too much capital spending often results in excess capacity and lower prices, says researcher IC Insights. Historically, chip companies spend 22% of...

The government's brand-new--and already criticized--outsourcing report.(Tip sheet: key metrics and supply alert)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... * The government's brand-new--and already criticized--outsourcing report says only a relatively small number of U.S. jobs are moving abroad. Labor says "offshoring" only affected 1.9% of the 239,361 workers who lost their jobs during the first...

Online Web logs, or Blogs, are personal Web sites where one can post.(Tip sheet: key metrics and supply alert)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... * Online Web logs, or Blogs, are personal Web sites where one can post comments, gossip, photos, stories and links to other sites. Now, Blogs are making inroads among business associates who want to keep up with goings on inside their segment...

Purchasing magazine's Sourcing Office Technologies book.(Tip sheet: key metrics and supply alert)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... * PURCHASING magazine's Sourcing Office Technologies book provides a look at ways smart buyers acquire office equipment and supplies. Stories show the importance of purchasing involvement in the office equipment buy, how buyers select suppliers...

Latin America is recovering strongly after more than five years.(Tip sheet: key metrics and supply alert)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... * Latin America is recovering strongly after more than five years of either recession or anemic economic growth. Indeed, the region's economy is expected to grow more than 4% this year--the highest growth rate since 1997--fueled by strong...

Purchasingdata.com's 90-day transportation price expectations.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
July 15, 2004... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] There's been no pause in rising energy costs, forcing this index higher. Price expectations, 90-day COMMODITY DIFFUSION CATEGORY PERIOD UP DOWN...

Expect 3%-5% price declines for integrated passive devices (IPDs) over the next year.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Expect 3%-5% price declines for integrated passive devices (IPDs) over the next year. Tags have fallen up to 10% for some devices over the last 12 months and more price erosion is likely as suppliers encourage OEMs to use IPDs in new designs...

The prices of goods imported into the U.S. rose a higher-than-expected 1.6% in May.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... The prices of goods imported into the U.S. rose a higher-than-expected 1.6% in May as petroleum product costs posted the largest increase (10.3%) since early 2003. Even excluding petroleum, import prices rose 0.4% in May. Thus, import prices...

Analyst Jon Bergtheil at J.P. Morgan Securities is a cooper price-forecasting bear.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Analyst Jon Bergtheil at J.P. Morgan Securities is a copper price-forecasting bear. World copper cathode prices averaged $1.26/Ib through May, and consensus has the full-year price at that level. Not Bergtheil; he believes the annual average...

Buyers at steel mills should prepare for iron ore price increases of 2.8% in 2005.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Buyers at steel mills should prepare for iron ore price increases of 2.8% in 2005, forecast the analysts at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group. Following increases of 18.6% this year, iron ore contracts next year at $37/metric ton, ANZ says....

Such electronic components as printed circuit boards and rechargeable batteries may rise in price soon.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Such electronic components as printed circuit boards and rechargeable batteries may rise in price soon, as demand has been improving and supplies are beginning to run short. Analyst Thomas A Thornhill of UBS says the robust economic momentum in...

Analysts earlier overestimated the strength of global stainless production.(Prices: factors affecting product cost)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Analysts earlier overestimated the strength of global stainless production, so they now are slicing the projected 2004 price for nickel. The new consensus world nickel price is $5.90/lb in London Metal Exchange trading, down from earlier...

Newark InOne's eProcurement programs help increase ROI and company-wide satisfaction.(Company Profile)(Advertisement)
July 15, 2004... Helping to meet the cost-savings goals of our customers is an important measure of our success at Newark InOne. In addition to our role as a leading electronics distributor, we continue to focus on our growing suite of value-added services...

Purchasingdata.com's leadtime index, all commodities.(Economy: hows supply managers see business)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
July 15, 2004... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] For the 12 months ending May 2004, Purchasing's Leadtime Index (1992 = 100) averaged 10.4% higher than the corresponding 12-month period a year earlier. Tracking the economy ...

The housing market has been a source of support for the national economy.(Economy: how supply managers see business)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... * The housing market has been a source of support for the national economy. But, builders are slightly less confident about home sales in the year's second six months. Economists are forecasting sales of previously owned homes to set a new...

Industrial production beat expectations in May by increasing 1.1%.(Economy: how supply managers see business)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... * Industrial production beat expectations in May by increasing 1.1%, which is the largest increase since 1998. The increase in industrial production pushed the capacity utilization rate up to 77.8%, an increase of 0.7% over April data. Among...

A large jump in petroleum prices pushed the import price index higher by 1.6% in May.(Economy: how supply managers see business)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... * A large jump in petroleum prices pushed the import price index higher by 1.6% in May, the government reported in June. Excluding petroleum products, import prices rose 0.4%, which was somewhat stronger than expected. In fact, economists at...

Business inventories rose 0.5% in April, the government reported in June.(Economy: how supply managers see business)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... * Business inventories rose 0.5% in April, the government reported in June, suggesting that inventories were tightest in the early spring among wholesalers--who had barely a month of stocks to meet then-robust sales. So, the inventory-to-sales...

Web extras.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... * From Foraging to Farming: Taking Spend Management to the Next Level For Sustainable Bottom Line Results--July 22, 2004 @ 1:00pm ET and 10:00am PT. Presented by PURCHASING magazine and sponsored by Ariba. Procurement leaders are looking...

Impact your bottom line by partnering with a distributor.(Company Profile)(Advertisement)
July 15, 2004... Increasing profitability in manufacturing has never been more challenging--or more essential. From rising energy prices to the cost of raw materials, today's manufacturers face increasing cost pressure on almost all fronts. And many times,...

It's a supply chain war.(inside purchasing)
July 15, 2004... "The real battle is between competitive supply chains, not just competitive companies and sourcing and logistics professionals," says Steve Rogers, former top buyer at Procter & Gamble. Supply chains are purchasing and logistics professionals...

About Meridian IQ.(Brief Article)(Company Profile)(Advertisement)
July 15, 2004... As a global logistics management company, Meridian IQ plans and coordinates the movement of goods throughout the world. Meridian IQ helps customers make better use of global transportation resources. The Meridian IQ approach allows...

Inflationary pressures are evident everywhere.(Grassroots)
July 15, 2004... The word on the street is that raw materials inflation is taking its toll on companies that make products from steel, nonferrous metals, chemicals and plastics. Margins are being squeezed by rising costs of materials, energy and transportation,...

Harley-Davidson Motor Company: leads the pack in shipping solutions.(Shipping with Steel)(Advertisement)
July 15, 2004... Worthington Steelpac began from a client need. Harley-Davidson, a long-time customer of Worthington Steel, first approached Worthington with a challenge: build a quality, environmentally sound shipping solution. Worthington Industries responded...

Buyers: supply starvation for resins, metals and others.(Grassroots)
July 15, 2004... Seven out of 10 buyers polled by PURCHASING magazine continued to complain about raw material supply shortages in June. Their concerns are not new; they have cited supply concerns in five consecutive surveys now. This time, shortage reports...

What's ahead in Purchasing.(buylines)
July 15, 2004... In the August issue of PURCHASING... * A feature story profiling the members of PURCHASING's All Star MRO Buying team for 2004 * PURCHASING's annual diversity report will focus on how new Web-based technologies are driving the growth...

US Bank[R]: five star service guaranteed.(Company Profile)
July 15, 2004... U.S. Bank guarantees the highest level of service. Great service is more than our goal; it's the way we do business. We make a promise to deliver the highest level of customer service in the industry, and we boldly back this pledge up with...

New plants evaporate supply tightness and latest price spike.(Methanol)
July 15, 2004... Methanol prices, stable for many months, suddenly spiked in May and June when natural gas prices to industrial customers soared to a four-year high. Supply is about to expand--since the world's largest methanol plant has started production in...

NAPP announces 2005 conference.(National Association of Procurement and Payables)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
July 15, 2004... The National Association of Procurement and Payables (NAPP) professionals holds its annual conference "Innovamation 2005" at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Fla. on February 6-9. The conference will focus on innovation in the...

UCC fills gap when boilerplates conflict.(Uniform Commercial Code, purchasing agreement drating)
July 15, 2004... To purchase equipment at a certain price, a buyer typically sends a collection of forms containing its fine print (boilerplate) terms to the seller. The Dr. John Murray, Jr. seller in turn responds with its boilerplate form indicating that it...

Elance SPM 4.5.(Version *.*: latest sourcing software releases)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Elance SPM 4.5, the latest version of the company's services procurement software, includes new capabilities that strengthen support for global deployments and purchasing of such services as research & development, marketing and asset...

Frictionless Commerce.(Version *.*: latest sourcing software releases)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Supplier relationship management software provider Frictionless Commerce released its SRM 2004 in May, which contains two new modules: CPO Central, an executive dashboard for portfolio management, business process management and performance...

Perfect Commerce.(Version *.*: latest sourcing software releases)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Perfect Commerce recently launched a new suite of services to accompany its supplier relationship management solutions. PerfectInsight delivers accurate market intelligence on leading commodities through its supplier network. Offerings include...

PeopleSoft.(Version *.*: latest sourcing software releases)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... PeopleSoft unveiled its new Demand-Driven Manufacturing product suite with several new tools including: Lean Procurement, Buyer Workspace, Radio Frequency Identification, Demand Scheduling Execution, configured Order Promising, and Advanced...

Emptoris.(Version *.*: latest sourcing software releases)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Emptoris has released its Emptoris 5 sourcing suite, which includes new modules for: category management, creative negotiation, supplier performance management and internal collaboration. Retail industry e-business firm GlobalNetXchange...

Online aerospace and defense exchange Exostar has teamed up with integration solutions provider Hubspan to provide a joint solution that connects buyer's and supplier's back-office systems across the Exostar platform for business process integration.(Version *.*: latest sourcing software releases)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Online aerospace and defense exchange Exostar has teamed up with integration solutions provider Hubspan to provide a joint solution that connects buyer's and supplier's back-office systems across the Exostar platform for business process...

Cargill Inc.(Price Fixing News)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Food products maker Cargill Inc. has agreed to settle a $24 million class-action lawsuit that accused the agribusiness company of conspiring to fix prices of a food sweetener. Cargill was accused of plotting with Archer Daniels Midland and A.E....

International Paper Co.(Price Fixing News)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Several global forestry firms were raided by European Union competition enforcers in late May as part of an antitrust investigation of price-fixing and manipulation of markets for various paper products. Raids were conducted at several Finnish...

Energy firm PSEG recently gave out supplier awards in two categories: strategic alliance and supplier diversity.(Kudos)(S&S Industrial Equipment)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Energy firm PSEG recently gave out supplier awards in two categories: strategic alliance and supplier diversity. Andover Control Corporation and S&S Industrial Equipment and Supply Company accepted honors in the category of strategic alliance....

EMS firm Flextronics recently awarded its 2003 Global Supplier Performance Award to eight suppliers for excellence in areas of quality, total cost, global account management, supply chain and design.(Kudos)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... EMS firm Flextronics recently awarded its 2003 Global Supplier Performance Award to eight suppliers for excellence in areas of quality, total cost, global account management, supply chain and design. Recipients included: electronics distributor...

Dallas-based energy firm TXU Corp. has earned the electric power industry's 2004 Supplier Diversity Excellence Award presented by the Edison Electric Institute for its comprehensive efforts in advancing the development of minority and women-owned business enterprises in the electric power marketplace.(Kudos)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Dallas-based energy firm TXU Corp. has earned the electric power industry's 2004 Supplier Diversity Excellence Award presented by the Edison Electric Institute for its comprehensive efforts in advancing the development of minority and...

Hewlett-Packard.(Kudos)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Electronics giant Hewlett-Packard has received the 2004 SBA Administrator's Small Business Procurement Achievement Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The award recognizes HP's commitment to providing contract opportunities to...

Using metrics to optimize your supply chain.(Hoffman-Laroche Case Study)
July 15, 2004... When M. Scott Rizzo, director of supply management at a pharmaceutical firm Hoffman-LaRoche in Nutley, N.J., was given responsibility for transportation, warehousing and distribution in early 2002, he wanted to find a way to look at it...

Supply chain software spending to increase.(buylines)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... A recent report from AMR Research found the supply chain management software market is expected to grow 5% in 2004, from $5.24 billion in 2003 to $5.5 billion in 2004. "An obsession with cost cutting and asset utilization has evolved into a...

Dana Corp.(Who's News)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Auto parts supplier Dana Corp. has a new vice president of global purchasing in Paul Miller. He comes to Toledo, Ohio-based Dana with 25 years of purchasing experience at auto parts supplier Delphi and automaker General Motors. His most recent...

CDW Corp.(Who's News)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Matthew Troka has been promoted to vice president of purchasing from senior director of purchasing at CDW Corp., a provider of technology services and products in Vernon Hills, Ill. In his new role, Troka will direct day-to-day operations of...

Construction Materials Group of Vulcan Materials.(Who's News)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... James Smack has been named senior vice president of the Construction Materials Group of Vulcan Materials in Birmingham, Ala. He will oversee marketing, procurement, technical, geological and operations and engineering services.

Kaman Industrial Technologies.(Who's News)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Michael Pastore has been appointed vice president of purchasing for Kaman Industrial Technologies in Windsor, Conn. In this new position he will be responsible for the management of all procurement and inventory planning functions for the...

Longview Fibre.(Who's News)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Frank McShane has been appointed to the newly created position of senior vice president of supply chain management at Longview Fibre in Longview, Wash. For the past eight years McShane was director of supply chain practice at consulting firm...

Noland Corp.(Who's News)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Roger E. Gibbs was named vice president of sourcing for Noland Corp., in Newport, Va. Gibbs joined Noland, a distributor of plumbing, air conditioning, water systems, electrical and industrial products, in 2003 and quickly became director of...

Vertex Fasteners.(Who's News)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Vertex Fasteners of Pawtucket, R.I. has appointed Tom King as its new director of purchasing. He will oversee purchasing and inventory for both the corrosion resistant and metric product lines.

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company's Fort Worth.(Who's News)(Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. appoints Ken Kempker)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Ken Kempker has been appointed vice president and chief sourcing officer of Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company's Fort Worth, Texas division. His previous position was vice president of corporate audit services.

National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC).(Who's News)(John Barth appointed)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... John Barth, chairman and CEO of Johnson Controls has been named chairman of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). Barth is a past chairman of the Michigan Minority Business Development Council, one of the NMSDC's 39...

Tier 1 automotive supplier Associated Spring.(E-Sourcing Briefs)(Associated Spring)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Tier 1 automotive supplier Associated Spring is using the strategic sourcing and purchasing software, Supply Works MAX to satisfy initiatives set by the Automotive Industry Action Group's (AIAG) materials management operations guideline that...

To drive cost savings through a sourcing platform, Wachovia.(E-Sourcing Briefs)(Frictionless Commerce Inc.)(Wachovia Bank and Trust Co.)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... To drive cost savings through a sourcing platform, Wachovia, the nation's fourth largest bank, has selected Frictionless Commerce to manage contracts and key supply base objectives such as supplier diversity. As a part of its supplier...

Kohler is one of the oldest privately held companies in the U. S.(E-Sourcing Briefs)(Kohler Co.)(Procuri)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Kohler is one of the oldest privately held companies in the U. S., but it is new to online sourcing. A manufacturer of kitchen and bath products as well as engines and generators, Kohler has a wide variety of spend categories across numerous...

USC to establish supply management program.(buylines)(University of Southern California)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... A grant from The Lord Foundation will allow the University of Southern California to establish its Center for Global Distribution and Supply Chains, which will explore best practices and knowledge in distribution and supply management across...

MSU study: some companies can get too lean.(Industry Research)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... A recent Michigan State University (MSU) study commissioned by AT&T found that supply chains become increasingly fragile as manufacturers move to a lean inventory model. MSU researchers reviewed three manufacturing companies with strong...

Canon.(Who's got strategic sourcing on the brain?)(Canon Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Japanese camera and copier giant Canon said recently it plans to cut its global supply base in half by 2006 and cut annual procurement costs by 10%, or about $1 billion. Canon plans to do this by establishing common standards to narrow down its...

Blockbuster.(Who's got strategic sourcing on the brain?)(Blockbuster Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Video rental giant Blockbuster plans to centralize its procurement unit to allow the video rental company to consolidate purchasing and allow Blockbuster to take advantage of centralized purchasing and bulk pricing. The company is eyeing the...

TXU.(Who's got strategic sourcing on the brain?)(TXU Corp. appoints Ric Federwisch)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Energy firm TXU is implementing a strategic sourcing program to reduce spending on third-party supplies and services. Following a 90-day review of the company, TXU's president and CEO John Wilder named a new leadership team that includes Ric...

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.(Who's got strategic sourcing on the brain?)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania continued on its strategic sourcing initiative to aggregate the buying power of all state agencies with an office products contract that will bring $7 million in savings to the state, a 39% savings from the...

Best practices study defines top-performing purchasing.(buylines)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Looking to benchmark against some of the top companies in the business? A recent survey by research firm Best Practices found that top-performing purchasing departments: * Run their organization with fewer than one procurement official for...

Non-traditional markets boost purchasing of high-priced metal.(Stainless Steel)
July 15, 2004... Chris Stephen's buying group is sourcing more stainless steel these days at Weber-Stephen Products Co. That's because of a renaissance in consumer buying of charcoal and gas grills, especially the higher-end stainless steel models, made by the...

Supply surplus will moderate spot price increases this year.(Platinum Group Metals)
July 15, 2004... Purchases of platinum group metals rebounded sharply in 2003, partly because prices fell for the third straight year. Meanwhile, the global platinum market is expected to be more or less in balance this year, with supply maybe exceeding demand...

China to boost home-market metal supplies.(Copper)
July 15, 2004... China has absorbed most of the world's excess inventories of copper, boosting world market prices by 50% in the past 18 months. "China is depending heavily on copper imports because of its growing demand for the red metal and domestic short...

Wolverine Tube.(Metals Chips)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Wolverine Tube has consolidated and expanded wholesale copper tube distribution capability with the addition of a 109,000 sq ft distribution center near Decatur, Ala. Consolidation in this new location frees up space in the company's Jackson,...

Worthington Industries.(Metals Chips)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Worthington Industries is selling its cold-rolling steel operation in Decatur, Ala., to Nucor of Charlotte, N.C., for $82 million as part of a plan to sell noncore assets. Worthington is a metals processor based in Columbus, Ohio.

Alcoa.(Metals Chips)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Alcoa has agreed to buy stakes in two operations from Russia's top aluminum producer, Russian Aluminium (RusAl), in a deal that will expand Alcoa's Russian business. Alcoa, based in Pittsburgh, said it would buy RusAl's controlling interests in...

Alcan.(Metals Chips)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Alcan, the aluminum and packaging group based in Montreal, will spin off to shareholders the bulk of its rolled products business, creating one of the world's biggest producers of aluminum foil products. The new company, yet to be named, will...

Inco, the nickel producer based in Toronto, expects that its Goro nickel project in the South Pacific territory of New Caledonia will start production in mid-2007, almost a year later than planned.(Metals Chips)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Inco, the nickel producer based in Toronto, expects that its Goro nickel project in the South Pacific territory of New Caledonia will start production in mid-2007, almost a year later than planned. While estimated output from the $1.85 billion...

Alcoa.(Metals Chips)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Alcoa plans to build a $1 billion aluminum smelter in Trinidad that would take advantage of the Caribbean island's natural gas reserves to produce the metal at a lower cost. Alcoa, the world's number one aluminum producer, said it signed a...

Metallurg.(Metals Chips)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... New York, N.Y.-based Metallurg continues to await a renaissance in demand for its line of specialty metals, alloys and metallic chemicals used by manufacturers of steel, aluminum and super-alloys. Weak demand in the past couple of years from...

Metal Foils.(Metals Chips)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Metal Foils, a processing distributor of light gauge metals in Willoughby, Ohio, has added coated and laminated products to its product line in a wide variety of thicknesses up to .01-inch with widths up to 60 inches.

Introducing ISG Weirton.(Metals Chips)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2004... Weirton Steel Corp. is gone; now it's ISG Weirton, part of the International Steel Group. The blast furnace-based steel mill opened in Weirton, W.Va., in 1909 and became owned entirely by employees about 20 years ago. Just a year ago, it was...

Demand outlook and prices soften in the warmer weather.(Silver)
July 15, 2004... Wintertime investor and speculator interest in silver put some pressure on supply, and boosted prices to a 17-year high, but all that has changed as temperatures have risen. Lately, prices have slumped (from a cyclical peak of $7.55/oz in April...

Globally, there are a lot of expansions going on.(Aluminum)
July 15, 2004... The world's number three primary aluminum producer, RuSal, has plans to become the world's number one. The firm has hired U.S. engineering and construction giant Bechtel Corp. to conduct a feasibility study for a new 600,000-metric-ton/year...

Carpenter Technology Corporation.(Advertisement)
July 15, 2004... When the mission is critical, the materials come from Carpenter. Whether the products are used in the air or on the ground, when manufacturers need alloys that are thinner, lighter, and stronger, the alloys come from Carpenter Technology...

Nurturing hybrid capitalistic system a tightrope act.(Letter From China)(Letter to the Editor)
July 15, 2004... In the June 3 issue of PURCHASING magazine, executive editor Tom Stundza (stundza@reedbusiness.com) wrote extensively in a Metals Flash Report about the impact on the metals markets in 2004 from the surge in demand from China, the world's...

Integris metals.(Company Profile)(Advertisement)
July 15, 2004... As keen competitors over the years, both Reynolds Aluminum Supply Company (RASCO) and Vincent Metal Goods/Atlas Ideal Metals compiled many successful years in the metals distribution industry. In fact, their corporate lineages date back to 1914...

Rio Tinto exec sees continuing supply tightness.(Copper)
July 15, 2004... A shortage of copper will continue to underpin metal prices well into the second half of 2004, before gradual restarts of production begin to alleviate market tightness, according to Oscar Groeneveld, the head of Rio Tinto's copper division. "I...

Small franchises fill baskets of small-quantity buyers.(Metals Distribution)
July 15, 2004... (Editor's note: A PURCHASING reader, a metal's buyer, suggested that the magazine's annual Top 100 Service Center listings for North America was missing a firm based in the Toronto suburb of Brampton, Ontario, that should have been listed in...