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the soviet purchases are so massive that exporters are struggling to find enough river <unk> and trains to move the recently <unk> midwest crop to ports for <unk> onto soviet ships |
river <unk> rates have soared N N this fall from a year earlier |
railroad companies and some ports are <unk> a sudden <unk> of business |
and some grain analysts are predicting that corn prices might <unk> this month as exporters <unk> to find enough of the crop to meet their obligations to the soviets |
the soviet union bought roughly N million <unk> of u.s. corn in october which is the most ever sold to the soviet union in one month from the u.s. |
the soviet union wants much of it delivered by january which would be a strain in most years |
but it is particularly difficult this autumn because of low water levels on the mississippi river on which flows much of the u.s. corn that is shipped overseas |
we are shipping the most corn in that short of time period to one customer on record said william <unk> a u.s. agriculture department transportation expert |
it is going to be real tight |
because of persistent dry weather in the northern plains the water level on the upper section of the mississippi river is so low that many river operators are already trimming the number of <unk> their <unk> push at one time |
in a few weeks many <unk> probably wo n't be able to operate fully loaded south of st. louis because the u.s. army corps of engineers is beginning to reduce the flow of the missouri river which feeds into the mississippi river |
the army corps is cutting the flow of the missouri river about two weeks earlier than normal because of low water levels in the <unk> that feed it |
<unk> rates on the mississippi river sank yesterday on speculation that widespread rain this week in the midwest might temporarily alleviate the situation |
but the army corps of engineers expects the river level to continue falling this month |
at st. louis the water level of the mississippi river is already N feet below normal and it could drop an additional N feet when the flow of the missouri river is slowed an army corps spokesman said |
similar levels <unk> <unk> shipments last year in the wake of the worst drought in N years |
so far the grain industry 's <unk> <unk> problems have n't been a major factor in the trading of corn contracts at the chicago board of trade |
many grain processors and exporters use the price of the corn futures contracts traded there to calculate the price they offer to buy corn from farmers |
at the board of trade yesterday the price of the corn contract for december delivery slipped N cents a bushel to settle at $ N a bushel |
corn prices have been sluggish this fall despite the huge soviet orders because the harvest has allowed farmers to rebuild the <unk> <unk> by the N drought |
with the harvest <unk> down however some analysts are <unk> that prices might jump in some regions as u.s. exporters try to gather the corn they are obligated to deliver |
farmers are in the best position of many years to push up corn prices |
because the drought reduced u.s. <unk> they have more than enough storage space for their new crop and that permits them to wait for prices to rise |
in parts of iowa for example some grain elevators are offering farmers $ N a bushel for corn |
many farmers probably would n't sell until prices rose at least N cents a bushel said <unk> reed president of chicago central & pacific railroad co. of <unk> iowa |
it is n't clear however who would win a waiting game |
although u.s. corn <unk> shrank by roughly half in the wake of the drought the agriculture department projects that nearly <unk> of the harvest will still be in storage before the N corn harvest begins |
some analysts are worried that reports of the grain industry 's problems might spark investors to begin buying corn futures contracts only to see little appreciation |
the public is buying the market when in reality there is plenty of grain to be shipped said bill <unk> <unk> inc. research director |
although much of this country 's export corn goes to new orleans by <unk> it is possible for exporters to <unk> the mississippi river by shipping a <unk> amount of corn by train to the port |
ports in the great <unk> and atlantic coast can also relieve pressure on new orleans |
one railroad for example is already increasing its grain <unk> service from indiana to baltimore |
and it is n't clear that the soviet union will stay on its record buying pace |
the soviet orders were <unk> into the month of october because of delays |
the soviet union usually begins buying u.s. crops earlier in the fall |
but its purchases apparently were delayed by a reorganization of its agricultural bureaucracy as well as budget problems |
in other commodity markets yesterday |
energy crude oil futures prices increased in moderate trading but much of the action was in heating oil |
prices rose on the news that a sizable west german refinery was damaged in a fire tightening an already tight european market |
heating oil for november delivery ended at N cents a <unk> up one cent on the new york mercantile exchange |
west texas intermediate for december delivery advanced N cents to $ N a barrel |
gasoline futures continued a sell-off that began monday |
precious metals futures prices eased as increased stability and strength came into the securities markets |
december delivery gold fell $ N an ounce to $ N |
december silver declined N cents an ounce to $ N |
january platinum was down $ N an ounce at $ N |
precious metals gold in particular currently are being influenced more by stock market gyrations than the dollar as traders seek greater investment stability according to william <unk> vice president of research at elders futures in new york |
the recent rally in precious metals was a result of uncertainty and volatility in equities he said |
yesterday the stock market rose strongly creating a more defensive attitude among precious metals traders he said |
silver and platinum which have more of an industrial nature than gold were even weaker he said |
silver is also under pressure of extremely high inventories in warehouses of the commodity exchange he said |
yesterday these stocks rose by N ounces to a record of N ounces according to an exchange spokesman |
copper futures prices partially recovered monday 's declines because <unk> miners voted to strike |
the december contract rose N cents a pound to $ N |
in chile workers at two copper mines los <unk> and el <unk> which belong to the <unk> <unk> <unk> yesterday voted to begin a full strike tomorrow an analyst said |
reasons for the <unk> the analyst said included a number of procedural issues such as a right to strike |
the analyst noted that also inherent in all metal markets was a sympathetic reaction to stocks |
in the case of copper he said the upbeat mood of stocks was reflected in demand for futures contracts because a stronger economy means greater buying interest for the metal |
also contributing to the <unk> in copper the analyst noted was a report by chicago purchasing agents which <unk> the full purchasing agents ' report that is due out today and gives an indication of what the full report might hold |
the purchasing management association of chicago 's october index rose to N N after three previous months of <unk> below N N |
the september index was N N |
a reading below N N generally indicates a slowing in the industrial sector of the economy while a reading above N N points to expansion |
the chicago report raised the possibility that the october survey of the national association of purchasing management would also show a reading above N N |
ncr corp. unveiled two models of its tower line of <unk> computers and introduced advanced <unk> software to allow the tower family to operate as a central hub in a network of computers |
the new software is based on <unk> inc. 's <unk> network operating system software |
usx corp. posted a N N drop in third-quarter profit as improved oil results failed to offset weakness in steel and natural gas operations |
the nation 's largest steelmaker earned $ N million or N cents a share compared with the year-earlier $ N million or N cents a share |
the recent quarter includes pretax gains of $ N million from asset sales while like gains in the year-earlier quarter totaled $ N million |
in the N period usx also had a $ N million after-tax gain from a tax dispute settlement |
sales rose N N to $ N billion from $ N billion |
the earnings drop appears particularly steep in comparison with last year 's unusually strong third quarter when the company was riding an industrywide boom in demand and pricing |
however third-quarter operating profit fell N N as usx sold sizable chunks of its diversified and steel segments eliminating income from those operations |
among segments that continue to operate though the company 's steel division continued to suffer from soft demand for its <unk> goods serving the oil industry and other markets |
peter marcus an analyst with painewebber inc. said that a downturn in the <unk> industry coupled with sluggish automotive sales hurt usx results |
moreover usx exports more than other steelmakers and the overseas market has been under more severe pricing pressure |
the company attributed lower sales and earnings for the steel segment to the loss of results from the <unk> ohio plant which now is a N joint venture with japan 's kobe steel ltd |
in the steel division operating profit dropped N N to $ N million |
profit per ton of steel shipped dropped to about $ N a ton from $ N a ton last year and $ N a ton in the second quarter analysts said |
still usx fared better than other major steelmakers earning more per ton of steel shipped than either bethlehem steel corp. which posted a N N drop in net income or inland steel industries inc. whose profit plummeted N N |
in new york stock exchange composite trading yesterday usx shares closed up $ N at $ N as the reported earnings exceeded projections by some analysts who had n't expected as great a volume of asset sales |
the rise in the stock 's price may also reflect the fact that usx 's steel segment fared better than some other steelmakers ' |
charles bradford an analyst with merrill lynch capital markets said usx may have received orders lost by competitors who were involved in labor contracts earlier this year |
he said usx also appeared to sell a richer mix of steel products such as the more profitable pipe and galvanized coated sheet than <unk> structural goods |
the energy segment with a N N rise in operating profit is clearly the company 's strongest |
higher crude oil prices helped boost operating profit for the marathon oil co. unit to $ N million from $ N million |
the texas oil & gas division continues to operate in the red although losses narrowed to $ N million from $ N million |
usx announced in october that it was soliciting bids to sell <unk> 's oil and gas reserves |
proceeds of that sale are to be used to reduce debt and buy back shares |
the company noted that it has reduced debt by $ N billion since the end of N and bought back about N million shares of common stock since the fourth quarter of N |
usx has about $ N billion in long-term debt and N million shares outstanding |
the announced sale of the reserves was followed by news that investor carl icahn had increased his stake in usx to N N and threatened a takeover or other business combination |
mr. icahn has said he believes usx would be worth more if broken up into steel and energy segments |
profit for the nine months jumped N N to $ N million or $ N a share from $ N million or $ N a share |
sales rose N N to $ N billion from $ N billion |
john f. barrett N formerly executive vice president and chief financial officer was named president and chief operating officer posts which had been vacant |
leon j. level vice president and chief financial officer of this computer services concern and f. warren <unk> a professor at harvard university 's graduate school of business were elected directors increasing board membership to nine |
david a. <unk> president of metal container division was named to the additional post of group vice president packaging products at this packaging industrial and aerospace products concern succeeding <unk> a. davis who was named president and chief operating officer in august |
two leading <unk> experts said president bush does n't have the legal authority to exercise a line-item veto |
professors philip <unk> of the university of chicago and laurence tribe of harvard law school said any effort by president bush to claim authority for a line-item veto would <unk> the text of the constitution and the intent of its authors as well as the views of previous presidents |
a line-item veto is a procedure that would allow a president to veto part of a big congressional spending bill without having to scuttle the entire measure |
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