Global steel consumption is expected to increase to 1.3 billion tons in 2008.

FRANKFURT, Germany, Oct. 8--Global demand for steel will keep growing next year in response to strong economies in China, Africa and the Middle East, the latest forecast by the steel federation IISI showed Monday.
The International Iron and Steel Institute expected global steel consumption is expected to increase to 1.279 billion tons in 2008. It expects 2007 consumption to rise to 1.198 billion tons, Reuters reported.
The instituted predicted that steel demand would grow by 6.8 percent this year and by around the same level in 2008, it said at a forum in Berlin, slightly more than a forecast earlier this year.
“Although global economic risks have increased, the IISI forecast assumes that the recent credit market volatility will not move the US economy into recession,“ said IISI president John Surma. “We are pleased to note that North Africa, South Africa and the Middle East are emerging as strong growth regions,“ he added, pointing to higher income and expanding investments as a result of rising energy and raw material prices, AFP wrote.
Countries that have already contributed to strong growth in steel demand, China in particular, would continue to do so, the IISI said.
Chinese demand was estimated to grow by 11.5 percent in 2008, following an expansion of 11.4 percent this year, and represent 35 percent of global demand. Brazil, India and Russia were also expected to consume large amounts of steel.
European steel makers are getting set to lodge a complaint against China for selling finished steel products in Europe at below cost, a source close to the matter said on October 2.
Imports of Chinese-made finished steel products into Europe are booming and are expected to double this year, according to Eurofer, a confederation of European iron and steel makers.

MOSCOW, Oct. 8--Gazprom was expected to continue on Monday talks on the settlement of Ukraine’s $1.3-billion natural gas debt, as well as on the issue of further supplies, the Russian energy giant said.
A working meeting between Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Minister Yuriy Boiko was scheduled at the company’s head office in Moscow, Gazprom said in a news release, RIA Novosti reported.
Miller and Boiko met last Wednesday for talks on Ukraine’s debt to Russian gas company, after the gas monopoly warned it would have to cut exports if the country failed to repay the sum in October. Gazprom also notified European consumers about the situation.
During a bitter price row between the former Soviet allies in late 2005-early 2005, Moscow briefly cut off exports to Ukraine, which affected consumers in Western Europe, with Russia accusing Kiev of tapping Russian gas in transit via its territory.
Also, Gazprom on Monday reported a 13.75 percent gain in first quarter net earnings compared with the same period last year, surprising analysts who had predicted a loss of 12 percent. Gazprom said it turned a profit of 6.16 billion euros ($8.7 billion) in the January-March period this year, AFP wrote.
But analysts at Renaissance Capital had foreseen a loss of 4.65 billion euros in the quarter. Gazprom’s results, they said, “will not be representative of 2007 as a whole, as they have been impacted by an exceptional decline in European demand last winter.“
First quarter sales at Gazprom came to 17.36 billion euros, a gain of 4.4 percent, consistent with forecasts by Renaissance Capital. Sales of natural gas rose 4.0 percent to 12.16 billion euros, which the company attributed to higher prices in Russia and in former Soviet republics.
Operating expenses increased 13 percent in the quarter to 11.4 billion euros.

MADRID, Spain,
Oct. 8--The US dollar is currently undervalued and this could cause volatility in the financial markets, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Rodrigo Rato said on Monday. “The truth is that the dollar is undervalued,“ Rato said. “Its low value could cause market volatility,“ Reuters reported.
The global credit squeeze is a “serious crisis“ that is not over yet and will have an impact on governments’ budgets, the IMF’s outgoing head said, AFP wrote.
Speaking to the Financial Times from Washington, IMF Managing Director Rato said, “Policymakers should not think that the problems will stay at the desk of the bankers.“
“Problems are going to come to the real sector, come to the budgets--that is something we keep telling people.“
Rato said that it would be “a few months, probably into next year“ before the availability of funds returned to normal levels in the markets, which was “going to have an impact on growth“.
He noted that the limitation on growth would mean that finance ministers would have to amend their budgets, but he told the FT that it did not seem that many were willing to do so.
Rato added that the credit crunch, sparked earlier this year by concern in the financial markets over high-risk or subprime mortgages in the United States, was “not a storm in a teacup“.
“The US is going to slow down ... Growth in Europe looks less strong than before, and in Japan too- though Japan will probably stay (at about) potential,“ said Rato, who will be succeeded as IMF chief by former French finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the end of the month.
Emerging markets will also likely have some impact, Rato said, adding that while those countries were growing rapidly, “to what extent they will keep that momentum will depend on how long the slowdown is in the US and Europe.“

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Oct. 8--ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet rallied to the defense Monday of the tough rules underpinning spending discipline in Europe, stressing that they are “absolutely essential.“
Under the 1997 Stability and Growth Pact, the 13 countries sharing the euro are supposed to keep public deficits to less than three percent of output--a target that many members have struggled to meet in the past--or face huge fines. “The rigorous implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact is something for us that is absolutely essential,“ Trichet told a conference in Brussels, AFP reported.
As strong economic growth has made it easier for countries to respect the three-percent limit, eurozone members raised the bar in April and agreed to balance their budgets by 2010. However, France is still struggling to keep its deficits in line with the target and Paris has warned that it is likely to miss the 2010 deadline as it loosens fiscal discipline while carrying out economic reforms.
Trichet said that although it would be “too simple to say“ that the pact’s rules are systematically flaunted, he acknowledged that “this is a tendency of some“ members. “But the bulk of countries have understood that (respecting the pact) is in their national interest,“ he added.
EU members rewrote the pact in 2005 to give countries more leeway in tough economic times after France and Germany consistently failed to meet the three-percent limit.
Since then, Germany has become a model student of fiscal discipline and expects to balance its budget this year, while France has struggled to make headway against overspending.

Shanty houses are cramped in the foreground while construction of new high-rise buildings continues in the background at ManilaÕs financial district of Makati.

MANILA, Philippines, Oct. 8--Asia is on track to halve extreme poverty by 2015, reflecting the impact of the region’s dynamic economy on the lives of its nearly four billion people, according to a joint report released Monday.
The report by the Asian Development Bank and the UN Development Program said Asia was also set to achieve goals in primary education coverage, gender parity and fighting the deadly AIDS virus, AFP wrote.
The findings were set out in an update on the region’s progress towards achieving the millennium development goals.
Against the broad regional trends, however, tuberculosis has been rising in the former Soviet republics of central Asia, while north and central Asia are also “regressing“ in the AIDS fight.
While “many more children are surviving beyond their fifth birthday,“ the report gave a mixed review on child malnutrition and said progress was slow in providing safe water, with 1.9 billion people still without access to safe sanitation.
The report also said many countries were “still losing forest cover at alarming rates,“ particularly the least developed countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
And while most countries can point to progress towards some goals, “none is on course to achieve all of them,“ the report said.
It cited pockets of growing disparities within each specific country--even among over-achievers like China--and called for greater efforts to help groups which have been left behind. Those facing the greatest obstacles are Asia’s least-developed countries, some landlocked developing countries and small islands of the Pacific, the report said.
If those countries were to attain their 2015 targets, it would mean 196 million more people would have been lifted out of poverty, it said.
Some 23 million more children would escape hunger, close to a million of them would survive beyond their fifth birthday, and four million more young people would get basic education, it added. The UN set a 15-year timeframe at the turn of the millennium to achieve its goals of halving extreme poverty, boosting health and education and empowering women across the developing world.

BEIJING, Oct. 8--The retail sales of consumer goods in China rose 16 percent year-on-year to almost 350 billion yuan ($46.7 billion) during the week-long National Day holiday, said sources with the Ministry of Commerce on Sunday.
The retail sales were boosted as more Chinese people travel, gather for family reunions, buy more commodities, and hold weddings during the seven-day holiday known as the “golden week“, Xinhua reported.
Prices of daily necessities were stable as there was sufficient supply in the market, according to the ministry.
Many people in rural areas joined urban dwellers in shopping, traveling and dining out while some city residents waved goodbye to busy urban lives and traveled to suburbs or remote villages to enjoy leisure time.
Sales of garments, home appliances, jewelries and autos rose in Chongqing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shanxi, Jilin and Heilongjiang, said the ministry.
In Shanghai alone some 30,000 weddings were held around the holiday period.

DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 8--Oil-rich Persian Gulf Arab countries have embarked on grandiose projects to build and expand their airports, capitalizing on huge oil-generated surpluses and an ideal geographic location.
More than $38 billion are being spent on brand-new airports or on expanding existing facilities across the six members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC), AFP reported.
OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia this week announced plans to invest around $5.4 billion on airport projects. The vast desert kingdom already has 27 airports, including three international airports. Plans are under way to revamp the dated King Abdul Aziz airport in the Red Sea city of Jeddah that serves millions of pilgrims to the Muslim holy sites each year.
“The region is trying to catch up with the worldwide development of air travel... Record-high oil prices help this expansion,“ explained Abid Riaz, aviation analyst at EFG-Hermes investment bank.
Oil receipts have inflated the coffers of PGCC countries on the back of record-high crude prices, allowing their governments to embark on grand infrastructure projects.
Some Persian Gulf Arab countries are building attractive business environments which in turn bring more people and generate demand for air travel, Riaz said.
Last month, Oman also announced a three-billion-dollar plan to expand two existing airports, in addition to building three new ones. Muscat’s Seeb International Airport will be able to handle 12 million passengers in 2010, compared to 4.7 million in 2006.
But the booming emirate of Dubai, which has established itself as a regional business and tourism hub, tops the list of big spenders with investments nearing 15 billion dollars on airport projects. The city-state is building a third terminal and two new concourses at its airport--already the busiest in the Middle East with a throughput exceeding 28.7 million passengers in 2006.
Kuwait also announced plans last year to invest $2.1 billion on a major airport expansion, while Bahrain is spending some $335 million on expanding its existing facility.