Business Services Industry
Housing slump hammers USG; Still, firm says it's 'bullish' on prospects for upturn.(News)(Brief article)
Crain's Chicago Business, May, 2007 by Murphy, H. Lee
Byline: H. Lee Murphy While the duration of the downturn in home construction remains an unknown, some analysts believe sales and profits at USG Corp., the Chicago leader in wallboard, will remain depressed for most of the next two years. In a recent report, Michael Rehaut of J. P. Morgan Securities Inc.
in New York predicted that wallboard pricing would fall by a third from the 2006 high of $181 per thousand square feet to $125 next year. It's $160 currently. He figures demand will dip 9% this year and then rise 3% next year, though prices will keep falling in 2008 as additional production capacity, including a new USG plant in Norfolk, Va., comes on line. Mills running at 100% capacity a year ago are now at 80%. Mr. Rehaut doesn't foresee improvement...
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