2012年(464)
分类: Delphi
2012-08-04 16:11:31
“The high cost of rare earths is having a significant chilling effect on wind
turbine and electric motor production in spite of offsetting government
subsidies for green tech
products,” said one of the conference attendees, Michael N. Silver, chairman and
chief executive of American Elements, a chemical company based in Los Angeles.
It supplies rare earths and other high-tech materials to businesses. CNH's
second quarter sales of construction equipment were down -2.8% on the same
period last year, at US$ 1.0 billion. The division's operating profit fell -32%
to US$ 17 million, for an operating margin of just 1.7%. CNH markets
construction equipment under the Case, New Holland and Kobelco brands.
The
company said it had seen flat market conditions in North America compared to the
start of the year, while conditions were challenging in Europe and Brazil. CNH
added that currency effects also had a negative impact. Without these, it said
revenues would have been up +4% to about US$ 1.07 billion.
But with light
bulbs, especially, the timing of the latest price increases is politically
awkward for the lighting industry
and for environmentalists who backed a shift to energy-efficient lighting.
In
January, legislation that President George W. Bush signed into law in 2007 will
begin phasing out traditional incandescent bulbs in favor of spiral compact
fluorescent bulbs and other technologies. The European Union has also mandated a
switch from incandescent bulbs to energy-efficient lighting.
Despite this
weak growth, the company said its market share increased in the second quarter,
thanks to gains in the light equipment sector in Europe, Africa, the Middle
East, CIS and Asia-Pacific. It also said it gained ground in the North American
heavy equipment market.
Including agricultural equipment sales, the company's
revenues increased +3.0% compared to Q2 2011, to SU$ 5.03 billion. It made an
operating profit of US$ 524 million - level with 2011 - which gave it a margin
of 10.4%
Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is running for the
Republican presidential nomination on a platform that includes strong opposition
to the new lighting rules in the United States and has been a leader of efforts
by House Republicans to repeal it.
Commenting on the figures, Ken Simonson,
chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) said,
"The June spending sand making plant gains come on top of upward revisions to
May and April totals, reinforcing the notion that private construction is now
growing consistently. Even more encouraging, the improvement is showing up in a
wide range of residential and non-residential categories."