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Natural gas costs plunge; Lower prices this winter mean big savings for local businesses.(News)
Crain's Chicago Business, October, 2006 by Daniels, Steve
Byline: STEVE DANIELS Steel executive Bradley Corral can thank Mother Nature for a better outlook this fall. The vice-president of Chicago Heights Steel, a family-owned specialty mill, has seen his company's cost of natural gas-used to heat metal in its blast furnaces-plummet in recent months, in part because of a quiet hurricane season.
It's a far cry from a year ago, when gas costs soared after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which disrupted drilling and pipeline operations and crimped supply. Natural gas makes up almost 8% of Chicago Heights Steel's overall costs. "The last four months of 2005 were just crazy,'' Mr. Corral says. He estimates his gas costs will fall 40% this year. "Everyone's on a tight margin, and when you throw that big a variable...
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