Word: demanding
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...price of tin, measures once considered beneficial to consumers of the metal as well as producers. It assigned production quotas to members and then bought up surplus tin whenever international prices fell below a certain level. The surplus metal was then gradually sold off during times of greater demand, when prices were higher. The cartel does not include all nations that mine or import tin. The U.S., the world's largest tin importer, has not been a member since 1982. Nonetheless, the organization for years was able to influence the world price for the metal...
During the past decade, however, the cartel has found it increasingly difficult to support prices because world demand for tin dropped while non-cartel countries were expanding production. Industrial use of tin slumped when manufacturers turned to other metals and plastic. Meanwhile, Brazil, not a member of the cartel, had become the world's fifth largest producer by 1984. The combination of decreased demand and increased production created a global oversupply...
...sought to double its price via a rise in the freight rate it charges mills). Chinese officials say supply bottlenecks are to blame for the price hikes. Ambassador Fu has raised the issue with Australian officials. "There is strong investment in the minerals field, but not enough to meet demand," she says. "The price is rising faster than the (Chinese) side can cope with." But Australia's government won't be intervening. "China aspires to be recognized as a market economy," said trade minister Mark Vaile last week. "Well, hello, this is how a market works." If Chinese interests...
...that once thought themselves immune to import pressure are feeling China's productive muscle. "We have a two-China approach - the China we sell to, and the China we buy from," says Richard Leupen, managing director of the United Group, whose Newcastle-based Goninan company makes rail cars: soaring demand in the resources sector prompted Goninan to start importing fully made rail wagons from China to meet orders. According to Leupen, although the freight cost would be huge, there's no reason why a Chinese competitor could not bring in whole passenger trains...
...Australia's recent economic growth owes much to China. It is essentially China's demand for resources that has lifted Australia's terms of trade to a 30-year high. China is already our second largest export market, and the growth is not just in minerals and energy. Some estimates suggest that by 2010, a million Chinese tourists may be visiting Australia each year. China is already Australia's largest source of overseas students. This structural complementarity between the two economies offers huge potential for closer trade ties...