PARIS, Dec. 3--The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries signaled Thursday that the group would keep pumping crude at currently high levels even though crude prices have cooled recently, AFP reported.
"Cutting the production has little chance. The most we can do is to stay at the (current) quota," OPEC acting secretary-general Maizar Rahman said at a forum in Manila Thursday.
With the organization set to meet on December 10 in Cairo to discuss production policy, members have been sending out signals about their position on output.
OPEC's current production quota, excluding Iraq, is 27 million barrels per day although its real output, including Iraq, is thought to be closer to 30 million bpd, an exceptionally high level.
Experts estimate that the global oil industry is currently pumping at 99 percent of maximum capacity, with OPEC countries producing at full capacity.
Against that backdrop, Rahman said a cut in production would be "psychologically negative" for the market, adding that OPEC did "not want to give the market bad news."
In Jakarta, Indonesia, OPEC president Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the group would likely decide to maintain its current production quota at next week's meeting.
"There's this thought that, during the first quarter (of 2005), prices will remain high because of geopolitical problems and because our oversupply has come down to 1.0-1.5 million barrels (per day)," Yusgiantoro said.
The situation on oil markets appears to be less tense than it was in October, when US benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate hit an all-time high in New York of $55.67 per barrel in New York.
On Thursday, Brent North Sea crude oil plunged below $40 for the first time in three months in London, to $39.50 a barrel, on fading supply fears at the start of the northern winter. And New York crude plummeted $2.19 to $43.30 a barrel, having already fallen more than three dollars Wednesday.

A file photo shows a model of Boeing 777-300ER series at the Asian Aerospace 2004 shows in Singapore. (AFP Photo)

WASHINGTON,
Dec. 3--The United States and European Union called a temporary time-out on Thursday in a cross-Atlantic dispute over government support for aviation rivals Boeing and Airbus, Reuters reported.
The decision came before a meeting in Paris on Monday between US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and new European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson that is expected to focus on how to advance world trade talks in 2005.
A US trade official, speaking on condition that he not be identified, said the United States would pass this month on its first opportunity to ask the World Trade Organization to hear its complaint against European subsidies for Airbus.
"We will not be making a request to establish a WTO panel before the end of the year. While no one should doubt our resolve to press ahead with this case, we want to give the new Commissioner time to review the issues," the official said.
The United States filed a WTO case in early October challenging European loans to help Airbus develop aircraft, such as its new A380 superjumbo jet. The EU responded by filing its own case against the US government over Boeing, which has slipped to number two behind Airbus in world civilian aircraft sales.
The filing of cases triggered a 60-day consultation period before the two sides could proceed to the next stage and ask for dispute settlement panels to review the matter.
Anthony Gooch, a spokesman for the EU executive body's Washington delegation, said Brussels also would not ask this month for a panel to be formed.
The temporary pause appeared primarily to be an attempt to prevent the aircraft subsidy dispute from overshadowing next week's Zoellick-Mandelson meeting.
Both sides would have had to notify the WTO of their intention to ask for a panel by Monday.
Neither Gooch nor the US official would rule out the possibility of requesting a panel next month.
Nonetheless, in a speech in Brussels on Thursday, Mandelson called for a "fresh start" to EU-US trade relations. "Nobody would deny that we have been through a difficult patch in the last few years," he said, referring to disputes over EU resistance to genetically-modified crops, illegal US export subsidies for corporations and other issues.

An imminent end to textile quotas, which will unleash a wave of Chinese exports, is expected to hurt many poor countries.

GENEVA, Dec. 3--An imminent end to textile quotas, which will unleash a wave of Chinese exports, is expected to hurt many poor countries that will be forced to adapt to the new order, an expert at the International Labor Organization said on Thursday, AFP reported.
"The economic and social shock will be very significant among poor countriesÕ capacity to rebound in the same way as the United States or the European Union," said Jean-Paul Sajhau, who is in charge of textiles and clothing at the ILO.
Import quotas of textile products, which ensure that numerous developing countries have access to the all-important European Union and North American markets, will disappear by the end of December under the terms of an international agreement struck in 1994.
As a result, China, which is already the world's largest exporter of clothing with a 28 percent share of the market, "will be the main winner because it has a massive production capacity," said Sajhau.
"India and Pakistan, which also have a huge domestic market, also stand to benefit from the disappearance of quotas," he said.
In contrast, countries that are focused on textile production with a very low labor cost, such as Bangladesh, stand to suffer from Chinese competition, as do those that have protected their market and failed to adapt their production methods, notably the Philippines or the Dominican Republic.
The European Union stands to lose about 2.5 million textile jobs as they are relocated elsewhere, said the expert.
At the same time, Sajhau said that the true impact of the end of the quota system was hard to measure.
The countries close to the European Union and the United States, such as Tunisia, Romania, Turkey and Mexico, could respond better than China to the demand for imports, he added.

TOKYO, Dec. 3--Union leaders from across the world meet from Sunday for five days of strategizing in Japan, a country whose own labor movement is losing influence as the economic system rapidly changes.
The 18th World Congress of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) is the first of the meets to be held in Asia and is expected to draw some 1,400 delegates from more than 150 countries.
The nation's largest labor union, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as RENGO, said it was organizing discussions on the global protection of workers' rights with an eye on the situation in Japan and the region.
"It is meaningful to hold this conference in Asia as people in the region have serious social and labor problems and are waiting for the global labor movement," RENGO said in a statement to AFP.
"It is an extremely big task for us to stop a decline in the trade union membership ratio and expand our organization," it said.
But the World Congress may not be the proudest moment in Japan's history of organized labor.
"Labor unions are now facing the question of their raison d'etre," said Emiko Takenaka, honorary professor of labor economy at Osaka Municipal University.
After World War II, labor unions became the guardians of a treasured economic system in which employees were assured jobs for life with salary based only on their seniority--a set-up under which Japan surged from the ashes to become the world's second largest economy.
But when the bubble economy started to burst in the late 1980s, the once unthinkable prospect of unemployment emerged. While labor insecurity would seem to be a breeding ground for unions, membership instead sank.
"The recession proved that trade unions cannot do anything against a wave of restructuring and fears of the introduction of a merit system," Takenaka said. "Workers are losing their trust in their labor unions."
Japan's jobless rate hit 5.5 percent in 2002 and 2003 and stood at 4.7 percent this October. RENGO's membership has declined to seven million this year from a peak of eight million in the late 1980s.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 3--Pakistan is keen to promote its trade links with its neighboring countries and thaw in Pakistan-India relations is a good omen for the promotion of trade between the two countries, Acting President Muhammad Mian Soomro said, Xinhuanet.com reported.
Talking to a delegation of shippers from India and the representatives of shipping lines, the official Associated Press of Pakistan Thursday quoted Soomro as saying that the Pakistani government attaches great importance to the port and shipping sector and has set up a separate ministry with a view to promoting ports and shipping sectors in the country.
Soomro said there are a lot of prospects for promoting trade with Central Asia countries via Pakistan. He hoped that Gwadar Port would be a center of business activities for trade to Central Asia, China and Middle East countries.
Foreign businessmen should use this channel to promote their business activities, the acting president said.
Members of the Indian delegation briefed the acting president about the problem relating to their business areas and put forward various proposals to improve the facilities at the ports of Pakistan, the report said.

Intel chips are seen in this undated company photo. (Reuters File Photo)

SANTA CLARA, USA, Dec. 3--Number one chipmaker Intel Corp. offered some upbeat news for the tech sector Thursday, lifting its revenue outlook for the fourth quarter to between 9.3 and 9.5 billion dollars, AFP reported.
The forecast marks a sharp increase from earlier guidance of between 8.6 and 9.2 billion dollars.
Intel's mid-quarter update had been widely anticipated because it provides a glimpse of the overall high-tech industry. Its forecast was well ahead of the average analyst prediction of $8.96 billion.
In after-hours trading, Intel shares surged more than seven percent to $24.40.
The company said gross profit margins will be in the range of 55 to 57 percent, unchanged from the 56 percent in its prior guidance.
Intel said it "continues to make progress on inventory reduction and expects a net inventory decrease of several hundred million dollars by the end of the quarter."
The company's bloated inventories earlier this year prompted concerns about Intel's strategy and led to a sharp drop in its stock price.
As for the rest of its outlook for the quarter, Intel said, "All other expectations are unchanged."
Additionally, Intel said it was studying the possibility of using a new law allowing US firms to repatriate earnings at a low tax rate of 5.25 percent.
It said "up to approximately $6 billion of Intel earnings from non-US subsidiaries may be eligible for repatriation at the temporary rate. The company is reviewing the matter and does not yet have formal plans regarding the repatriation."

BEIJING, Dec. 3--China's annual economic planning meeting opened Friday in Beijing to set policy measures for the coming year aimed at cooling overheating and introducing greater prudence to fiscal and monetary policy, AFP reported.
The Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po in Hong Kong announced that the meeting had begun and would also focus on establishing macro-economic controls capable of stabilizing the sharp fluctuations that have characterized China's economy over the last 20 years.
President Hu Jintao, expected to chair the meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao, this week said the government would next year bring greater prudence in the expansionary fiscal and monetary policies that have driven the economy since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
A statement on economic policy for 2005 is expected to be issued after the close of the meeting Sunday.
In a reflection of a more prudent fiscal policy, Vice Finance Minister Lou Jiwei told Friday's Shanghai Securities News the government would reduce long-term treasury bond issues next year in a bid to reduce the fiscal deficit.
China has issued 150 billion yuan ($18 billion) in T-bonds each year since 1998 to boost the economy but has been reducing this progressively as the economy has roared ahead.
China's economy is expected to grow at around 9 percent this year despite efforts by the government to rein in overheating in infrastructure construction and real estate development that has led to sharp shortages in building materials, energy and transport.
Policy adjustments for next year would aim to stimulate growth and incomes in the agricultural sector, while curbing excessive investment and bank loans in the overheated sectors.
"This is a key meeting in which China's top leaders will discuss economic policies for 2005 and beyond," economist Bill Xu at Standard and Chartered Bank said in a research note.
"Likely topics include exchange rates, monetary and fiscal policy, agriculture and finance." More market-based monetary tools, including interest rate liberalization and a gradual and moderate rise in lending rates could come out of the meeting, Xu said.