Better Than Expected Year for Thiele

摘要

Sam Smith,president,reports that 2004 is shaping up into a "fair year" for Thiele Kaolin Co."We've shipped a lot of tons this year,though high energy costs have kept our net income lower than it should be,"he says.Energy costs,Smith adds,are over two and one-half times what they were five years ago."Kaolin prices have been flat to declining for the past 5-10 years,but our average price has stayed fairly level because we're selling more high value,higher priced products.Overall,things are good,and with the economy improving,we're looking for improvement next year."