IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Price increase

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co, the world's largest maker of giant excavators, will increase prices for building machinery by as much as 10 percent in Japan to cope with rising steel costs.

The average price of all construction machinery sold locally will increase by 5 percent to 10 percent starting April 1, Tokyo-based Hitachi Construction said yesterday.

Profit slump

BlueScope Steel Ltd, Australia's largest steelmaker, posted a 21 percent drop in first-half profit due to increased iron ore costs, but its shares rose 6 percent after it said it expects a better second half.

BlueScope, which makes flat steel products for building and construction, said the second half would be largely driven by steel price increases, reflecting strong demand. It would also be able to pass on higher iron ore costs to customers.

Trash collector falls

Biffa Plc, the UK trash collector that accepted a 1.2 billion-pound takeover offer, fell the most in three months in London trading after rival bidders dropped out.

Biffa slid as much as 6.3 percent, the biggest one-day drop since Nov 26. The shares traded 22 pence lower at 346 pence as of 8:15 am local time.

Agencies

(China Daily 02/26/2008 page17)