IISI estimated world steel output at the end of November at 945.2 million metric tons.

PARIS, Dec. 21--World steel production, powered by enormous demand in China, has set a new annual output record with the production Monday of the one billionth ton of steel, according to the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI), AFP reported.
"This is the first time the world will produce a billion tons of steel in a single year," the institute said Monday.
The IISI, which compiles data from 62 leading steel producing countries, estimated world steel output at the end of November at 945.2 million metric tons. With average production of about 2.8 million metric tons a day, it said it expected the billionth ton to be produced on Monday.
Globl steel output came to 968.3 million tons in 2003.
Steel industry experts predict that production should continue to grow next year, though perhaps at a slower rate.
One specialist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development foresees production of more than 1.018 billion tons for all of 2004 and 1.063 billion in 2005.
Robust economic growth in China, notably to build infrastructure ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, is expected to fuel demand over the next several years.
In the first 11 months of the year Chinese steel production jumped 22.1 percent to 245.3 million tons.
Elsewhere, output rose 5.1 percent to 177.9 million tons in the European Union, 5.9 percent in the countries of the former Soviet Union to 102.5 million tons, 7.7 percent to 122.4 million tons in North America and 1.9 percent to 103.1 million tons in Japan, according to the institute.

Some 16,600 new passenger aircraft of more than 100 seats will be needed in the coming 20-year period.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec. 21--More than 17,300 new passenger and freight aircraft with a value of US$1.9 trillion (RM7.22 trillion) will be required by aircraft operators between 2004 and 2023, according to the latest Airbus Global Market Forecast, Bernama reported.
Airbus forecasts that 16,600 new passenger aircraft of more than 100 seats will be needed in the coming 20-year period, creating an average delivery of 830 passenger aircraft per year.
This requirement results from a three-fold growth in passenger traffic, or an average annual traffic growth in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) of 5.3 percent, and the replacement of 9,200 less fuel-efficient passenger aircraft through to 2023, the European aircraft manufacturer, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Airfreight is forecast to grow even faster, with freight ton kilometers (FTKs) increasing annually by 5.9 percent over the same period, generating the need for more than 700 new and 2,400 converted freighters.
The Airbus Global Market Forecast analyses world traffic development as well as the year-by-year fleet evolution of the world's largest (309) airlines and (121) subsidiaries and (131) freight operators for the next 20 years.
It takes into account all the driving factors and market dynamics that influence development of the current and future air transport system, said Airbus, an EADS joint company with BAE Systems.
Overall this period includes the strongest traffic-growth recovery seen since 1980 and highlights the resilience of the industry to the effects of recent world events.
The strong economic development of the Asia-Pacific region, especially in emerging economies, and the increasing impact of low-cost carriers in all domestic markets will significantly contribute to this growth.
The nine trillion RPKs forecast in 2023 will largely be generated in Europe (32 percent), Asia-Pacific (31 percent) and North America (26 percent).
To accommodate this three-fold growth in passenger traffic, the number of flights offered on passenger routes and the number of passenger aircraft in service will more than double in twenty years, accompanied by the use of larger aircraft.
Airbus therefore forecasts that the average number of seats per passenger aircraft will increase by 20 percent from 181 to 215 over this period.

WASHINGTON,
Dec. 21--Pakistan's economy has successfully emerged from the 1998-99 crisis and is growing at a healthy clip, but more steps are needed to curb widespread poverty, AFP quoted the International Monetary Fund as saying on Monday.
In its annual review of the Pakistani economy, IMF directors said the near-term economic outlook is "positive," with growth of around 6 percent expected to continue over the 2004-2005 period.
Pakistan's gross domestic product accelerated to 6.5 percent in the 2003-20004 period from July to June, driven by exports, investment, and consumption, with inflation at a modest 4.6 percent.
"Notwithstanding these significant achievements, poverty remains widespread and social indicators are weak in Pakistan," the IMF report said.
"Thus ... the key policy challenges for the medium term are to maintain strong economic growth and to ensure that this is translated into a significant reduction in poverty."
The IMF directors said Pakistan must find ways to boost social spending to cut poverty while lowering the country's heavy debt levels.
"In this regard, directors encouraged the authorities to pursue more ambitious revenue targets and to expand the tax base further into the services and agricultural sectors," the report said.
"Directors also noted that the fiscal strategy calls for subsidies to the energy sector to be reduced significantly."
The IMF commended Pakistan for liberalizing trade, creating "one of the most liberal trade regimes in South Asia," and for diminishing the role of the state in the economy.
The directors "emphasized the need for deepening structural reforms to improve the investment climate and governance, including through continued privatization and trade liberalization," the report said.
"At the same time, they noted the importance of enhancing human capital and labor productivity through greater and more efficient spending on health and education."

LONDON, Dec. 21--British government departments risk having to make spending cuts in the runup to elections expected next May as public borrowing hit its highest level in a decade, AFP quoted a newspaper as reporting.
Central government spending growth must slow to 1.2 percent above last year in the next four months if it is to stay within the spending forecasts finance minister Gordon Brown made in a pre-budget report, the Financial Times said.
That would be the lowest rate of growth in expenditure since 1987 when the treasury adopted this definition of spending, it added.
The rate of increase is well below Britain's 3.4 percent inflation rate, suggesting a period of spending cuts in real terms before the election expected in May, it said.
By comparison, current central government expenditure rose by 7.3 percent between April and November, it said.
The Financial Times said figures showed the government borrowed 9.4 billion pounds (13.6 billion euros, $18.2 billion) in November as government expenditure excluding investment rose by 9.2 percent on the same month in 2003.
The Treasury said it was "meeting its fiscal rules" and officials explained that the public-expenditure control would have to be extremely tight to enable Chancellor Brown to meet his forecasts.
Christine Frayne of the Institute for Fiscal Studies outlined the predicament.
"The chancellor will need a cumulative current budget surplus of $11.7 billion over the last four months of this year compared to barely 100 million pounds in the same period last year," Frayne was quoted as saying.
"Spending departments will have to show--or be forced into--considerable restraint to bring this about," she said.

MOSCOW, Dec. 21--Members of the Russian lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on Tuesday rejected US criticism over the sale of the main Yukos oil subsidiary to a mysterious buyer, AFP reported.
Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov said the sale of Yuganskneftegaz, the core asset of the country's top oil producer, to a previously unknown entity, Baikalfinansgroup, for $9.35 billion (7.02 billion euros) was Russia's "internal affair".
"In Russia we should not pay much attention to the reactions of the (US) State Department," Gryzlov said, adding that the weekend auction of Yuganskneftegaz was completely legal.
The US State Department said Monday the forced auction of the Yukos crown jewel to an unknown buyer eroded confidence in the Russian legal and judicial system.
The sale was conducted behind closed doors and the purchaser, Baikalfinansgroup, is a company with no known business interests that was registered only two weeks ago.
Russian media reported Tuesday that Baikalfinansgroup is linked to oil company Surgutneftegaz, a Kremlin-friendly firm that is widely expected to sell the Yukos assets on to Gazprom, the state-controlled gas giant.
"We think the case has eroded Russia's reputation as a place to do business and eroded confidence in Russia's legal and judicial institutions," department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
But Duma economic committee head Valeri Draganov said Washington was jumping to conclusions. "Everything has been done according to the law," he told the RIA-Novosti news agency, pointing out that in Russia as in the United States the owners of companies bidding at auctions were not required to be identified.
However Arkady Volsky, the head of Russia's main big business association, said the sale could "prejudice the image of Russia in the eyes of investors."
"The sale of Yuganskneftegaz in this form does not really contribute to the creation of a positive image of the country. What the authorities have done will scare foreign investors away," he said.

NEW YORK, Dec. 21--US online retail sales for the holiday season are up at a 28 percent pace compared with the same period last year, a survey showed Monday, AFP reported.
The eSpending report by Goldman, Sachs, Harris Interactive, and Nielsen NetRatings showed Internet sales of $16.7 billion during the first six weeks of the 2004 holiday season.
That was up 28 percent from the $13 billion spent online during the same period in 2003.
Music was the fastest growing category in e-commerce, with sales up 33 percent, followed by the video and DVD and jewelry categories, up 32 percent each.
Book sales were up 27 percent, and the toys/video games category grew 22 percent.
The report was based on a survey of more than 1,000 online US adult consumers for spending between November 1 and December 12.
"Jewelry has turned out to be a strong category online with substantial growth in sales this season, increasing 32 percent year-over-year as a category," said Heather Dougherty, analyst at Nielsen NetRatings.
"As the online buying population matures, there is increased confidence and comfort in purchasing non-commoditized goods online, which has provided retailers with the opportunity to sell a wide variety of product categories and price points."

TOKYO, Dec. 21--More than 10 percent of Japanese companies required to submit financial statements have corrected them, indicating a widespread problem of firms being sloppy or worse with their data, AFP quoted a report as saying on Tuesday.
A total of 456 companies, both listed and unlisted, filed corrections by a deadline last week imposed by the government to review financial statements, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.
Japan's top business newspaper said the figure indicates that businesses have been careless about the accuracy of their disclosed information.
The government review was ordered after a rash at scandals throwing into question the reliability of financial information.
Seibu Railways and Nippon Television Network both admitted that they had concealed the full extent of shareholdings by group companies.
Seibu's shares were delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange as punishment after plummeting in value since August when the scandal emerged.
The most frequent mistake made by companies was misreporting the size of stakes held by their top 10 shareholders.
Japan has considered imposing tough measures to ensure credibility by companies, with some ideas based on initiatives taken in the United States after the Enron scandal.
However, the proposals, such as forcing listed companies to explain ways to prevent wrongdoing, have received a mixed reaction from companies.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 21--Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, gave its approval on Monday to the Kyoto protocol which aims to stem global warming, the official Saudi Press Agency said.
It said the decision was taken by ministers at a weekly cabinet meeting and a royal decree is being prepared to formally endorse the step.
As a developing country, Saudi Arabia would not be subject to emissions cuts under Kyoto, a requirement only binding 30 industrialized nations. Some 135 nations have formally given their support to the pact.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, speaking in Argentina on Thursday, said his country hoped to sign the protocol but expects to lose billions of dollars in oil sales as developed nations implement the pact.
"By the year 2010, Saudi Arabia will lose at least $19 billion a year as a result of the policies the industrialized nations will adopt to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions," Naimi told a UN climate change conference.