EoW March 2010

Of related interest . . . Leggett & Platt (Carthage, Missouri), a producer of ❈ drawn steel wire, reported fourth-quarter 2009 net pro t of $35.2 million compared to a loss of $18 million for the same period of 2008. Revenue was $770 million, 13% lower than the $883 million posted in fourth-quarter 2008. For the full year 2009, net pro t from operations was $111.8 million, up from $104.4 million in 2008. Revenue for the year was $3.06 billion, 25% lower than the $4.07 billion posted in 2008. Leggett attributed its higher pro t, on lower sales, to a successful e ort in cost reduction. The company projects sales of $2.9-3.3 billion this year. Demand from China is driving the nickel market, which ❈ seems set for price stability throughout 2010. “Nickel: Market Outlook to 2014,” from London-based Roskill Information Services Ltd, ties this stability to a market surplus of around 75,000 tons this year and continuing to rise through 2012. The annual average nickel price is forecast at around $20,000 per ton for 2010, to rise to just over $22,000 per ton over the period through 2012. As to nickel consumption, Roskill forecasts a global increase of around 7% in 2010, after a three-year period of falling demand. The expected continued rise in demand for nickel will parallel a commensurate increase in demand for stainless steel, which typically has 5%-25% nickel content. Production of stainless is forecast to reach 27 million tons in 2010 (for an 8% increase year-on-year) and almost 30 million tons in 2011.

Automotive

After celebrating its Golden Anniversary in the United States, Toyota has fallen on hard times

Over its half-century in the US, Toyota Motor Corp earnestly pursued an ambition of becoming the number 1 car maker anywhere. It achieved that goal in 2008 by passing General Motors, world leader since 1931. But the Japanese company has since su ered a breathtaking reversal of its American fortunes. On 28 th January, a House committee scheduled hearings into a series of Toyota recalls that spread from the US to Europe and China and seriously damaged what had seemed an invulnerable reputation for quality and safety. The prospective Congressional scrutiny into problems with the accelerator pedal on Toyota cars has prompted the recall of millions of vehicles around the world and a halt to production and sales in the US and Canada of eight models that could be a ected by the malfunction. ➣➢➣

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EuroWire – March 2010