Business news for Thu, 29 Nov 2007 & with words market+products. 6 news.

HIGHER production costs will lower China's export of steel billets by at least 50 percent in 2008, said Qi Xiangdong, vice secretary general of the China Iron and Steel Association. Speaking at the third Forum on Bohai Bay Iron and Steel Market on Wednesday, Qi predicted that steel products will also drop by one percent compared with 2007.

CHINA has ordered its two largest oil companies to run their refineries at full capacity in a further move to address a fuel shortage. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance have asked Sinopec Group and China National Petroleum Corp to fulfill their social responsibility to ensure market supply of refined oil products, the commission said in a statement posted on its Website yesterday. The two "must run their facilities at full swing," said the commission, China's top planning body. It also told the two state firms to fully utilize the refining capacity of private oil firms to boost supply. Sinopec and CNPC have been cooperating with local private refiners in Liaoning, Shandong and Sichuan provinces by providing crude oil to them and then buying back refined products under government coordination, the commission said earlier this week. The two companies have also been told to adjust production by making more diesel and less oil

Kansas sets out to be the industry hub THE ambition, in Kansas City at least, is to make the "Animal Health Corridor" as recognisable to everyone as, say, Silicon Valley. The hope was born last year, with the publication of a study by Ron Brakke, a Dallas-based animal-health consultant. Mr Brakke found that the region houses more than 120 companies serving the animal-health and nutrition industries, including four of the ten largest international manufacturers of animal-health products. Businesses based in the region account for 27% of the $5 billion national animal-health market and 32% of the $15 billion worldwide market. These numbers have been the basis of a busy branding campaign by Kansas City. The effort began with the official designation of the corridor and a $300,000 donation from Joerg Ohle, the president of the animal-health division of Bayer HealthCare, which has its headquarters in a local suburb. The University of Kansas will soon begin offering a master's degree in business administration for animal-health students. The Kansas City Life Sciences Institute is offering $50,000 grants to universities that undertake research of interest to local companies. And the state of Missouri has adopted its own veterinary-student loan programme. ...

PLASTICS Capital, which manufactures a range of products including plastic bearings which feature in applications as diverse as photocopiers and spa baths, has made its debut

Wolseley, the world’s largest distributor of plumbing products, said yesterday that it was cutting 1,300 more jobs in the United States as it sought to cut costs amid the struggling housing market. Wolseley has already eliminated 1,700 jobs in the United States and said it would cut 1,300 more in its second quarter. The cuts represent about 5 percent of its total work force.

Wolseley, the FTSE 100 plumbing and building products supplier, warned it is facing a worsening US market as it cut another 3,000 jobs in the States.