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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (30424)	5/19/2005 1:20:06 PM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

U.S. imposes quotas on more Chinese textiles - Wednesday, May 18, 2005 9:46:30 PM afxpress.com WASHINGTON (AFX) - The Bush administration will impose quotas on four more categories of Chinese textile imports because they threaten to disrupt the U.S. market, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The action builds on quotas imposed last week on three major categories of Chinese textile imports. On Wednesday, a federal interagency panel, the Committee for Implementation of Textile Agreements, chaired by the Commerce Department, determined that imports of men's and boys' cotton and man-made fiber shirts, man-made fiber trousers, man-made fiber knit shirts and blouses, and combed cotton yarn are threats to the U.S. market. The United States will impose a quota equal to 107.5% of the average imports in the past year. So far this year, the U.S. has imported more than $350 million worth of the products impacted by Wednesday's ruling "We will enforce our trade agreements to ensure that U.S. companies get a fair deal as they compete in the global marketplace," said Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez in a statement China has been feeling heat from Washington lately. The Treasury Department warned China on Tuesday that it must revalue its currency within the next six months or be branded as a currency manipulator, which could lead to broader sanctions on Chinese imports. At the same time, Treasury Secretary John Snow warned about "wrong-headed protectionism" that could harm global growth. Anti-Chinese sentiment is growing on Capitol Hill, Snow said Wednesday. Global textile quotas that had been in place for decades expired in December. Since then, imports of Chinese textiles have soared. U.S industries say the imports threaten U.S. producers and jobs The U.S. government will request negotiations with the Chinese by the end of May The European Union has also begun an investigation into Chinese textile imports The Chinese have said they have voluntarily reduced their textile exports in face of the U.S. and European investigations According to U.S. data, in the first three months of 2005, imports of Chinese non-knit shirts increased 197% to $96.2 million. Chinese imports of knit shirts rose by 195% year-over-year to $142.1 million. Chinese imports of trousers increased 111% to $122.1 million. Chinese imports of yarn increased 62% to $1.6 million Total Chinese textile imports have increased 54% year-to-date to $5.6 billion. Textile imports from all sources have increased 11.5% year-to-date to $22.6 billion Chinese imports have risen from about 16% of all textile imports in 2002 to about 20% in 2004 and about 25% so far in 2005 Since 2000, U.S. employment in textile and apparel manufacturing has fallen by 389,000, or 36%, to about 700,000

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (30424)	5/19/2005 1:22:22 PM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

U.S. Philadelphia Fed Index Declines to 7.3 in May (Update3) May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region declined more than forecast in May, a Federal Reserve report showed. The Fed Bank of Philadelphia's general economic index for May fell to 7.3 from 25.3, the biggest monthly drop since January 2001. A number greater than zero signals a higher percentage of the factories surveyed reported an improvement in business than deterioration. The index has been positive since June 2003. Factory demand may moderate the next few months as growth in business spending eases and companies sell from inventories that piled up during the first three months of 2005, economists said. Slower factory demand underscores forecasts for this year's economic growth to trail the pace of 2004, when the economy expanded the most since 1999. ``Manufacturing is still growing, but the pace of expansion has slowed,'' said David Sloan, senior economist at 4Cast Inc. in New York, whose 7.5 estimate in the Bloomberg survey came closest to the actual figure. ``There's no longer the need to rebuild inventories, and demand overall is growing at a more moderate pace. The weakness in the auto sector is also feeding through'' to other manufacturers. The median forecast among 59 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was 17.3. Forecasts ranged from 5 to 27. The region comprises Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. The report is watched by economists and investors for clues about the performance of manufacturing nationwide, which accounts for about 13 percent of the economy. Future Index Falls The Philadelphia Fed's index measuring the outlook for six months from now fell to 22.3 from 27.5. An index of current manufacturing employment fell to 5.4 from 16.8 in April. An index measuring the average workweek fell to minus 2.8 from 20.4, the biggest monthly drop since November 1987. The new orders index fell to 15 from 20.3. Unfilled orders rose to minus 0.1 from minus 3.8. The shipments index fell to 14.9 from 29.4 last month. The Fed bank's index of inventories fell to 2 from 3.4. An index of prices received by factories fell to 15.7 from 28 in April. The prices paid index for raw materials fell to 30.9 from 50.5. The Philadelphia Fed's report comes after the New York Fed said May 16 its index of manufacturing in New York state plummeted this month to minus 11.1, the lowest level since April 2003. Industry Group's Forecast A U.S. manufacturers' group today trimmed its industrial growth forecasts because of rising oil prices, accelerating inflation and faster import growth. The Arlington, Virginia-based Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI said industrial production will grow at a slower pace than it expected in February, equaling the growth of the general economy this year and exceeding it next year. The group cut its estimate of industrial production growth this year to 3.4 percent from 3.5 percent in the group's February forecast, and to 3.3 percent for 2006 from the previous 3.6 percent. Business spending on equipment and software during the first quarter rose at the slowest pace in two years and companies added the most to inventories since the second quarter of 2000, the Commerce Department said April 28. That may restrain orders this quarter, economists said. General Motors Corp. will trim production 10 percent this quarter compared with the same period last year as the automaker tries to reduce inventories as sales slow. Ford Motor Co., the second-biggest U.S. automaker, said it is reducing production 4.8 percent. Cutbacks Hurting The cutbacks are hurting some Philadelphia-area businesses, such as Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based specialty chemical maker Quaker Chemical Corp. ``Volume growth stalled in the first quarter as steel and auto producers scaled back production to reduce high year-end inventory levels and to respond to their own demand softening,'' said Ronald J. Naples, the company's chairman and chief executive, in a May 2 statement. Manufacturers lost 6,000 jobs last month, the seventh decline in the past eight months, the Labor Department said on May 6. U.S. companies expect slower revenue growth and higher prices this year than they did six months ago, a May 10 survey by the Institute for Supply Management showed. Manufacturers expect revenue in 2005 to increase 6.8 percent in 2005 over 2004, a ``moderate'' decline from the 7.8 percent forecast in December, the trade group for purchasing executives said. Some Stronger Growth Some companies are reporting stronger growth, including Philadelphia-based Rohm & Haas Co., the world's biggest producer of acrylics used in paints and plastics. Rohm & Haas boosted its quarterly dividend 16 percent this month after profit in the first three months of the year surged by more than a third. Moline, Illinois-based Deere & Co., the world's largest maker of farm equipment, said this week that second-quarter sales rose 13 percent as it sold more tractors and construction equipment. The company raised its full-year profit and sales forecasts. ``We're growing. The economy is growing,'' said Daniel DiMicco, chief executive of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor Corp., in a May 17 interview. Nucor is the second-biggest U.S. steelmaker behind United States Steel Corp. DiMicco said U.S. steel prices, down about 20 percent since October, will rebound ``in the next month or two'' as distributors work off excess inventories. The U.S. economy may expand 3.4 percent this year after growing 4.4 percent last year, according to economists surveyed April 29-May 6 by Bloomberg News. The projected increase is higher than the 3 percent average annual gain during the past three decades. Consumer spending growth will slow to 3.5 percent this year from 3.8 percent in 2004, the fastest rate in four years, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. quote.bloomberg.com

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (30424)	5/19/2005 1:30:31 PM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2005 In the first quarter of 2005, 989 mass layoff actions were taken by employers that resulted in the separation of 156,252 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both the total number of layoff events and the number of separations were sharply lower than in January-March 2004, with events and separations at their lowest levels for any first quarter since the program began in April 1995. (See table A.) The declines over the year were most notable in food and beverage stores, general merchandise stores, and administrative and support services. Extended mass layoffs that involve the movement of work within the same company or to a different company, domestically or outside the U.S., occurred in about 10 percent of the nonseasonal layoff events and accounted for about 13 percent of the worker separations in nonseasonal events. (See table B.) Forty-three percent of the employers anticipating a recall expected to extend the offer to all laidoff workers, the highest proportion for a first quarter since 1999. [Note this is the lowest total for quite some time - Mish] More here: bls.gov