Purchasing articles from July 2006

Purchasing archives from July 2006

Brewer keeps his buying simple.
July 13, 2006... By Tom Stundza The recipes for Harpoon Brewery's dozen different beers are complex enough. Fortunately, the buying process doesn't have to be. A copper-colored brew in the English style of pale ales has become the best-selling beer for...

Green projects get more investment.
July 13, 2006... Staff Environmentally friendly energy projects are getting more investment, both from energy firms and investors. Ethanol is perhaps the most visible evidence of this trend. In a recent presentation to Wall Street analysts, Archer Daniels...

Nova declares force majeure after accidental plant shutdown.(facility closures)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Nova Chemical in June had to declare force majeure on propylene, crude C4's and other pipeline-delivered co-products at a Canadian plant because a contract maintenance worker inadvertently hit the plant shutoff switch, killing...

China continues to draw investment from chemical and plastics makers.(polycarbonate resin manufacturing)(flame retardants)
July 13, 2006... David Hannon Chemicals and plastics firms continue to pour huge investments into the Chinese market. General Electric is making a major push into China and its GE Plastics division is high on the priority list. GE's CEO Jeff Immelt...

Degussa makes hikes.(prices of methacrylate chemicals )(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Degussa is increasing prices for such methacrylate chemicals as monomers methyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate and methacrylic acid, as well as for hydroxy esters, by 6Acents/lb. Degussa also increases its prices in July by...

UCAR ups styrene.(prices of acrylic acids)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff The UCAR Emulsion Systems unit of Dow Chemical is increasing prices by 3Acents/wet pound on acrylic, styrene acrylic, and styrene butadiene latexes. Heavier grades of emulsion products and rheology modifiers will see a 4Acents/lb...

Dow boosts acrylics.(prices of acrylic acid )(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Dow Chemical has boosted prices 6Acents/lb acrylic acid and esters in North America. Products included in this increase are glacial acrylic acid, butyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, methyl acrylate and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate.

Hexion pushes epoxy tags.
July 13, 2006... Staff Hexion Specialty Chemicals increased prices of its base epoxy resins in Asia by $200/metric ton and specialty epoxy resins by $100-$250/metric ton.

Lanxess raises prices.(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Lanxess in June raised its prices for its toluene-based products including chlorotoluenes, cresols and the antioxidants Vulkanox BHT and Vulkanox BKF. Price increases ranged from 5-15% depending on the grade of toluene used.

Ticona ups PE.(prices of chemicals)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff The Ticona division of Celanese increased prices for its ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene products. This includes a 10Acents/lb price increase for its polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, thermoplastic...

DuPont hikes titanium dioxide.(hike in prices)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff DuPont Titanium Technologies recently hiked prices in the Middle East for all DuPont titanium dioxide grades by $150/ton, effective June 15 or as contracts allowed.

Hercules lifts sodium formate.(prices of sodium formate)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Hercules' Paper Technologies and Ventures Group announced a price increase for sodium formate of 5Acents/lb for all grades for both list and off-list prices effective immediately.

Solvay boosts specialty polymers.(reason for hiked price of polymers)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Solvay Engineered Polymers is raising prices 5Acents/lb on July 1 for its thermoplastic polyolefin and thermoplastic elastomer products. The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based firm is a supplier of thermoplastic polyolefin materials to the...

High prices impact buying plans for resins.(price hikes in plastic resins)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... David Hannon The continued price hikes in plastic resins are impacting buying plans in mid-2006. In Purchasing 's most recent business survey, 57% of buyers said they saw plastic resins increasing in price, up from 50% the month before....

Buyers wrestle with multiple risks; hedging and aggregating help.
July 13, 2006... Paul Teague With the volatile pricing that's characterized the energy market over the last year, it's no wonder that commodity managers are taking the idea of risk management more seriously these days. But while pricing-and supply-are...

Business Intelligence.(inorganic chemical tags)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff 33% Buyers expecting chem purchases to be up this quarter Source: www.purchasingdata.com WHAT IT MEANS: Buying plans are actually slipping. In May 48% of buyers polled planned to increase chemical buying. However, in...

Bulk packaging remains strong.(Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container Association )
July 13, 2006... William Atkinson Demand for both rigid and flexible bulk packaging will remain strong fueled by continued manufacturing activity in certain industries and a shifting product mix. On the rigid market side, Cleveland-based market...

Citric acid pricing pattern due for upward turn.(citric acid production facilities)
July 13, 2006... Gordon Graff Buyers of citric acid report that the prices for this vital food and beverage additive have held fairly steady over the past year. But rising energy and raw materials costs, along with a robust global demand, look to push...

SweetLake Chemical expands in Mexico.(warehousing capability )(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff SweetLake Chemical has expanded its facilities in Monterrey, Mexico. The Houston, Texas-based chemicals distributor has recently completed renovating and updating its sales office there to handle its increasing business in Latin...

BASF wraps up Engelhard.(buy of Degussa's construction chemicals division)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Everything has its price and for Engelhard shareholders, that price was $39. BASF now controls the majority of Engelhard after investors holding 89% of Engelhard stock agreed to a buyout at $39 a share in June. BASF CEO Juergen...

Natgas glut could reduce prices.(North American natural gas storage system )(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Natural gas prices are headed for a nosedive this fall as storage fields are filled to the brim, predicts Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Operational limits of some portions of the North American natural gas storage system may...

Agrium buys Pursell.
July 13, 2006... Staff Agrium will buy privately held Pursell Technologies for $74.5 million to expand its controlled-release crop fertilizer line, Canada's No. 2 fertilizer producer said.

SIA revises chip forecast upward.(Semiconductor Industry Association)
July 13, 2006... James Carbone The Semiconductor Industry Association says 2006 will be a pretty good year for chip companies. That means a likely boost in capital spending that could increase supply. The SIA has revised its industry forecast and now...

Business Intelligence.(management)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff 46% Electronics buyers who say business is improving WHAT IT MEANS: Business is healthy as the third quarter begins and will further pick up momentum as electronics manufacturers start building for Christmas selling season....

Increased DRAM capacity means lower tags in the short term.(Dynamic random access memory)
July 13, 2006... Staff Buyers can expect DRAM prices to decrease in the next several months as memory chip manufacturers continue to shift capacity from NAND flash memory to DRAM. Longer term, however, prices will rise as more higher density devices ship....

Higher materials cost will push up ceramic capacitor prices.
July 13, 2006... Gina Roos Buyers can expect prices for multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) to rise, unlike last year when tags for MLCCs eroded by as much as 10%. Buyers can also expect some tight supply for high-capacitance parts. Capacitor...

Nu Horizons makes acquisition.(mergers and acquisitions)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Nu Horizons plans to acquire DT Electronics, a U.K.-based franchised electronics component distributor with sales of about $25 million. The transaction is expected to close in August. Financing for the acquisition will come from...

Digi-Key to carry Panasonic modules.(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Panasonic Industrial has named Digi-Key as an authorized distributor for its line of RF modules including the PAN802154 wireless communication module supporting the 802.15.4 radio standard and the ZigBee specification. The Panasonic...

Chip forecast is up.(sales and earnings)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff The Semiconductor Industry Association raised its 2006 chip sales forecasts to 9.8%, or $249.6 billion, from an earlier forecast of 7.9%. Key end markets are buying more, particularly makers of third-generation mobile phones. SIA...

What do you make?(online survey)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff It's Salary Survey time, and Purchasing needs your help! The more purchasing professionals who complete our survey, the more accurate the annual report will be. Complete the confidential survey online at...

What's in short supply?
July 13, 2006... Staff Buyers in Purchasing's monthly survey report problems sourcing: Steel (beams, sheet) Paper products (woven, newsprint) Resins Aluminum RoHS-compliant electronic components Copper

NAND shortage coming.(NAND flash memory )(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Buyers can expect a shortage of NAND flash memory in the fourth quarter because of booming demand from the portable media players market. The popularity of flash-based players such as iPod has resulted in unprecedented demand for...

Housing to cool.(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff The pace of u.s. housing construction rose 5% in May after three months of declines, but permits for future projects fell 2.1%, a government report shows. Permits for future groundbreaking, an indicator of builder confidence, in May...

Midmarket growth slows.(Survey)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Small-business owners expect weakening business conditions through September, according to a member survey by the National Federation of Independent Business. "It's hard to beat the first-quarter performance (of 5.3% growth), so a...

Leading indicators are off.(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff The conference board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators, a key gauge predicting economy's performance, posted a 0.6% drop in May, suggesting the economy could weaken in coming months. Ken Goldstein, Conference Board economist,...

'07 industrial slump?(economic aspects of Industrialization)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Growth in industrial activity may slump next year, with overall economic growth of just 2.2%, but no recession is in sight through 2008, suggests Edward Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast of Los Angeles, which publishes...

Chip capex rises.(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Capital spending by semiconductor companies will rise 12% to $51 billion this year, according to researcher IC Insights. In 2005, capital expenditures by chip companies were flat compared to 2004. Capital spending was $11.7 billion...

NEMA: '06 looks durable.(National Electrical Manufacturers Association)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff The market for electrical equipment products will be robust at least through September, says the latest survey of National Electrical Manufacturers Association members. NEMA's Electroindustry Business Confidence Report shows that...

Aluminum demand jumps.(production management)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Alcoa sees a doubling of aluminum consumption over the next 20 years, with products in the flat-rolled segment, especially aerospace and other transportation applications, accounting for much of that growth. In a presentation to...

Freight costs, surcharges rankle buyers.
July 13, 2006... Staff (Buyers' 90-day price expectations) [TABLE OMITTED]

Metals pricing may drop.(prices of metals)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff U.K. bank Barclays cut its metals price forecasts because it expects the U.S. rates to rise to 6% this year, compared with a previous forecast of 5.5%. The bank cut its forecast for average copper prices this year by 5.8%, its nickel...

Gold will stay pricey.(prices of gold)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff International financial conglomerates Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have raised their 2007 price forecast for spot gold to $700/troy ounce. That compares with the June analyst-consensus average for 2006 of $602.

Building materials up.(Construction materials costs )(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Construction materials costs have continued to heat up, and were 7.8% higher in May than a year earlier, reports, Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America. Items contributing most to the cost...

Energy costs flag concern.(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff High energy costs are fueling price increases in manufacturing and transportation, reports the latest Beige Book from the Federal Reserve. Pressures from higher costs were pushing up selling prices for manufacturers in several...

NBSK prices are boosted.(Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Producers of Northern bleached softwood kraft pulp are increasing prices in July by $20/metric ton. In the U.S. and Canada, the new mill price is $700/metric ton from Canfor, Domtar, Pope & Talbot, Tembec, Weyerhaeuser and West...

Boxboard tags stiffen.(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Prices of boxboard made from solid bleached sulfate and coated unbleached kraft jumped an average of $20/ton in June, boosting the 2006 price $40 over the 2005 average. With demand described as solid and some capacity shut, suppliers...

MPU price war brewing.(Pentium microprocessors)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Intel is expected to drop prices for its Pentium microprocessors by as much as 60% in July. The company will also drop prices for dual-core processors by about 15%, according to several motherboard manufacturers. The move is designed...

Cotton may soar.(International Cotton Advisory Committee)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff World cotton prices are expected to soar sharply higher next year, running up by more than 23%, as demand for cotton rises and production flattens out. The International Cotton Advisory Committee, a consortium of worldwide cotton...

Another view offered.(price forecast )(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff World copper prices have fallen 21% (at press time) since May as speculators have been cashing-in on the recent pricing run-up. Some analysts believe the earlier rally was overdone, but not UBS Investment Research analyst Brian...

CFOs see higher tags ahead.(chief financial officers )(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Prices of products will increase an average of 3.3% over the next 12 months, according to forecasts by chief financial officers collected by Financial Executives International and Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business....

Supply of RoHS parts tightens.
July 13, 2006... By James Carbone The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) deadline has passed, and independent distributors say there is tight supply of both leaded and RoHS-compliant components. It's no secret that many electronic component...

When doing business in India: Take it slow.
July 13, 2006... By David Hannon Buyers report that delays and infrastructure issues present major hurdles in the subcontinent. India's definitely a hot-spot on the global sourcing radar. But buyers planning on doing business in India need to prepare...

More leadtimes shrink.(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Twenty-five of 41 electronic component leadtimes tracked monthly by Purchasing shrunk in June. However, suppliers indicate demand will pick up and leadtimes will stretch over the next two months. Leadtimes shrunk the most for 64...

Ace Hardware leverages software for inbound optimization.
July 13, 2006... David Hannon Like a lot of retailers, Ace Hardware's logistics organization uses a private fleet of trucks to ship from its distribution centers to stores, and had good visibility into those shipments. But the inbound network from...

Business Intelligence.
July 13, 2006... Staff 50 Truckers taken off the road in Conn. for violations Source: Associated Press report WHAT IT MEANS: In a recent three-day crackdown, Connecticut state inspectors uncovered more than 1,700 violations and took 50 truck...

Logistics plants new roots.
July 13, 2006... By David Hannon No longer stuck in the outback, logistics takes its place on the supply chain tree. So shouts an angry logistics manager to his boss, the vice president of manufacturing. The manufacturing veep is holding up production...

New strategies battle price volatility.
July 13, 2006... By Tom Stundza Purchasing executives are working to develop savings opportunities by adjusting the list of strategic suppliers and by changing buying practices. High costs for raw materials have boosted some stainless steel...

Mills seek higher cold-rolled prices, but how much is unclear.
July 13, 2006... Tom Stundza "We have returned to an environment where global steel prices are shifting up across a wide range of products, and in all regions of the world," says analyst Mike Harrowell at the J.P. Morgan Securities offices in Sydney,...

U.S. purchasing slipped by 6% last year.(audit results )(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff The copper development association's recent audit of domestic copper buying for end use showed a decline of 6.2% in 2005 to 7.47 billion lb from 7.96 billion in 2004. As for supply, domestic production of refined copper dipped 3.8%...

Ceradyne, Alcan to make nuclear waste containment material.
July 13, 2006... Staff A nuclear shielding will be made from a boron carbide/aluminum metal matrix composite at a new plant in the Saguenay region of Quebec province by Cerdayne and Alcan. Montreal-based Alcan will supply aluminum metal while Ceradyne will...

High prices could cause some substitution in heat exchangers.
July 13, 2006... Staff Design engineers and buyers are seeking substitutes for high-priced copper in end-use applications beyond plumbing tube, where plastic pipe already has knocked the red metal's share of market to 12%. Only around 200,000 metric...

EU sets battery recycling regulations.(European Union)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff The European Union has issued a new directive on batteries which sets a minimum collection target of 25% of average annual sales over the past three years to be achieved in four years. The directive also calls for 45% collection...

Timken expands round bar capabilities.(production capability)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Specialty steel producer Timken has expanded processing capability to produce carbon and alloy steel bars with a maximum diameter of 13 in., in lengths up to 26 ft. The maximum bar diameter previously produced by the company was 12...

Mill shipments are moving upward.(Brief article)(Statistical data)
July 13, 2006... Staff U.S. steel mills shipped 27.7 million net tons in the first quarter, a 3.7% increase from the 26.7 million shipped in the January-March period of 2005, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. A comparison of year-to-date...

Business Intelligence.
July 13, 2006... Staff 2.2% Rise in steel service center inventories Source: Metals Service Center Institute WHAT IT MEANS: There's plenty of steel available for spot buys. Stocks at processing distribution companies in the U.S. rose to...

Prices to beat 2005 levels.(nickel prices and rates)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Growth in world stainless production has led to frenzied buying of such key alloying ingredients as nickel, chromium and molybdenum. Prices for nickel, 65% of which is used in stainless steel production, have gained 8% this year. ...

Price rises hurting the economy, Stewart tells Congress.(prices and rates)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Soaring copper prices are negatively affecting businesses and consumers, Shelley Stewart, Jr., senior vice president of operational excellence and chief procurement officer for Tyco International told a Congressional committee...

Metal Chips.(Nucor to build sheet-steel galvanizing plant)(Gibraltar Industries to sell steel strapping business to Illinois Tool Works)(Tenaris spending $2.4 billion for Maverick Tube of Chesterfield)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Steelmaker Nucor plans to build a $150 million sheet-steel galvanizing plant in Decatur, Ala. The plant will have annual capacity of about 500,000 tons of 72-in. wide sheet. It will be located near the sheet-steel mill Nucor already...

Novelis announces technology 'breakthrough' in multi-alloy casting.
July 13, 2006... Staff Aluminium sheet firm Novelis has a new fusion process for solidifying molten aluminum into an ingot suitable for rolling into a high-quality flat-rolled product. Novelis Fusion technology simultaneously casts multiple alloy layers...

Supply decisions will be based on market fundamentals.(World Aluminum Conference)
July 13, 2006... Staff Top executives of the two leading aluminum companies insist that suppliers will maintain focus on customer fundamentals and not make poor corporate decisions to boost capacity just because there's a commodities' pricing boom in play....

DuPont, Alcoa collaborate on composite.(aluminum composite siding material)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Chemicals giant DuPont and world aluminum leader Alcoa have developed a new construction material designed to shield building facades from damage caused by hurricane-level wind-borne debris. By introducing a thin layer of fabric made...

Very healthy end-market demand keeps prices elevated.
July 13, 2006... Staff Demand for high-grade alloys used in aircraft-grade metals is unlikely to decline, according to nonferrous metals analysts. They point to cobalt as the benchmark, where prices, averaging just under $15/lb this year, will remain...

Alcoa to supply metal for Nike bats.(contracts)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff Alcoa has signed a multiyear contract to supply Nike with aluminum for the sports equipment maker's premium brand baseball bats. Alcoa's Chandler, Ariz., factory will provide an advanced aluminum alloy originally used by the...

Analysts see China's demand flattening.(copper supply and demand)
July 13, 2006... Staff China's 2006 consumption of copper may stay flat at 3.7 million metric tons because of high prices of the industrial metal, says senior analyst Loewe Cai at China International Futures (Shanghai) Co. "We are wondering whether the...

MRO buyers see more than just nuts and bolts at Fastenal expo.(maintenance, repair and operations)
July 13, 2006... By Susan Avery While Fastenal is the place to go for hard-to-find fasteners, the industrial distributor is also more than just nuts and bolts. This was evident to 3,500 of its customers-many of whom are MRO buyers-attending the Fastenal...

Business Intelligence.(customer satisfaction report)(analyzing spendings)(production of trucks)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff 70% MRO buyers who say internal customers are happy Source: Purchasing's 2006 MRO/Indirect Sourcing Benchmark Study WHAT IT MEANS: MRO buyers who implement strategic sourcing processes report an increase in customer...

MRO Briefs.(awards)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff "One of distribution's responsibilities is to help purchasing select the best solution for a situation from one of its manufacturer suppliers. If I were in purchasing I would challenge my distributor to do that regularly," says Bill...

Let the buyer beware.(progressive purchaser's behavior)
July 13, 2006... Paul Teague, Editor in Chief Nothing can ruin the day of a buyer who just got a "great low price" more than the discovery that the part is bogus or otherwise substandard and won't do the job. If that happens often enough, not only are...

GSK consolidates MFP purchase.(multifunction products)(GlaxoSmithKline)
July 13, 2006... By Nancy A. Hitchcock Even a colossal research pharmaceutical company that spends more than $550,000 every hour to develop new medicines to treat diseases such as asthma and diabetes has every day office needs using multifunction products...

Business Intelligence.
July 13, 2006... Staff 14 New technologies unveiled by Toshiba WHAT IT MEANS: Dealers who got a sneak peek at document imaging solutions previewed at Toshiba's recent national dealers meeting will have new products to demo to office buyers in the...

Office briefs.(installation of printer)(Brief article)
July 13, 2006... Staff OfficeMax has agreed to install Canon's large format imagePROGRAF W6400 pigment ink printers in more than 500 of its Print and Document Service (PDS) Centers nationwide. The W6400 printer is Canon's 24-in. wide format solution for...

Plastic packaging demand grows despite swelling prices.(packaging materials)(government insists on green packaging)
July 13, 2006... Staff Plastic packaging protects delicate or perishable items as they pass through the supply chain. High raw-material costs-mostly plastic resins-have dented profit margins even though suppliers have successfully implemented some price...

Business Intelligence.
July 13, 2006... Staff 63% Buyers expecting price hike for bags Source: www.purchasingdata.com WHAT IT MEANS: This is the most price-bullish view about future prices of multiwall bags in 18 months. That's because buyers believe the expansion...

A supply chain's voyage to world class.
July 13, 2006... By Susan Avery Royal Caribbean shows how purchasing principles used in manufacturing can be applied in the services industry-with much success. Shortly after Royal Caribbean Cruises announced in February that it was purchasing what...