On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 19:00:18 -0700, "Rich S."
wrote:

:"Richard Riley" wrote in message
.. .
:
: Off the top of my head - find out how much steel is selling for in
: Russia.

If it's selling for significantly less than here, see what
transportation to chinese ports is like - can the siberian railroad
take it to Vladovostok? If so, talk to Chinese buyers and see
exactly what they want. Mild steel I beams, or coil, or pig iron?
See if you can get cheap options on that stuff in Russia. You'll
need Russian and Chinese translators (I have a Russian one who'll work
cheap, but English is widely spoken among urban Chinese).

If you can beat the delivered price of the US stuff by 10% and still
make 10%, you got yourself a business.

http://www.steel.org/news/oped/barnette.htm
http://www.ebrd.com/new/pressrel/1998/04jan15.htm

You might also look for steel production in south america. There's a
lot of trade between China and SA

Now, maybe they're buying from the US because they're already buying
everything the Russians have to offer. Or maybe it's a currency rate
thing. But yes, it's wierd, and there might be something there.