Friedrich Sturm Market Report - 28.11.03
The US $ in EURO
1,2000
What happened this week: The most exciting development during this week was the sharp decline in the currency market. The USD hit new lows against the EUR and reached 1,20 – as everybody knows. So, whatever kind of improvement one may have seen in the market was destroyed by the ever weaker USD. European buyers lean comfortably back knowing, that their position is getting stronger and overseas customers don’t bother about currency fluctuations anyway. However, despite the squeezed calculations demand was also this week reasonable. Interest came again predominantly from Asia. We mentioned already for a while, that we feel, that the price gap between US steers and their European counterparts is far too wide. It seems, that also some Asian tanners started to consider the same and for the first time for long the first bids and sales for bulls have been effected. Not at brilliant prices, but definitely an alternative to the massive price pressure executed now by the European tanners which try to use their production break over Xmas for the argument to reach further falling raw material prices.
