T ranslation

Text № 1

Translate the article into Russian in writing. Find in the text sentences with Absolute Nominative Construction (see Exercise 4)

NO LONGER THE LAB OF THE WORLD

U.S. chemical plants are closing in droves as production heads abroad

Only a decade ago the U.S. was the world’s top spot for making chemicals. The chemical industry was born and took root in the U.S. largely because of its enormous reserves of natural resources that could be transformed into new materials. Not only was it the largest market but it also had facilities that boasted the latest technology and the best know-how. Most important, U.S. plants had a natural advantage, thanks to an abundant supply of cheap natural gas, a building block for plastics, fertilizers, and even pharmaceuticals. The industry’s low-cost inputs and outsize scale also gave it an edge on the global market. As recently as 1997, the U.S. posted a trade surplus in chemicals of almost $20 billion, even as it ran deficits in most other manufacturing sectors.

Today, none of that is true. At the start of this decade, the industry’s hegemony abruptly ended. Orders collapsed, hurt by an unrelenting recession in manufacturing and by the exodus of industrial customers to China and other low-wage countries. The capper was the sudden leap in U.S. natural gas prices. Through the 1990s, gas prices were among the world’s lowest, averaging $2 per million British thermal units (BTUs). But in 2000, U.S. prices shot up, because of unprecedented demand from new, gas-fired power plants. Today, with supplies still tight, gas costs $6 to $7 per million BTUs in the U.S. That compares with $5.25 in Europe, $4.50 in China and Japan, and $1.25 or less throughout the Middle East and Russia. With neither imports nor new domestic supplies likely to close this price gap anytime soon, chemical companies are canceling projects here.

New facilities in the developing world are often as sophisticated and productive as those in America, if not more so. And U.S. natural gas prices are the highest in the world. For the U.S., the likely results are less investment, fewer jobs, and fewer scientific discoveries.

With annual sales of $500 billion, U.S. chemical producers are too big to simply disappear, as have other industries such as consumer electronics or clothing. Indeed, after a few tough years, chemical sales have spiked thanks to the weakened dollar and a rebound in the U.S. manufacturing.

Across the industry, capital investment is being herded away from the U.S. toward the Middle East and Asia, where energy is cheaper and growth rates are faster, while U.S. plants are being turned over to salvagers.

The industry slippage affects more than national pride. Even in today’s digital economy, chemical producers are essential to manufacturers, providing key ingredients for everything from hand soap to home insulation to hard drives. But as more and more of these goods are made offshore, the chemical industry is following suit. Chemical companies closed 70 facilities in the U.S. in 2004 and already have tagged 40 more for shutdown, according to a registry that Chicago-based BuildCentral Inc. posts for demolition outfits. Industry employment is now below 880,000, down from over 1 million as recently as 2002. And these are often well-paying jobs, with equipment operators earning $40,000 a year and chemical engineers averaging more than $75,000.

Meantime, of 120 chemical plants being built around the world with price tags of $1 billion or more, just one – a 1,725-acre polyvinyl chloride plant in Plaquemine,La. – is in the U.S., reports Independent Project Analysis Inc. China, by comparison, has 50. As a result, the nation’s balance of trade in chemicals, a rock-steady surplus for 80 years, has become a deficit.

Innovation may be the nation’s next casualty. Production facilities need engineers to run them and scientists to do workday research. So as capital investment migrates, these tasks will, too. The concern among U.S. scientists is that offshore research and development centers will expand to encompass the deeper, basic research from which new products are born.

Industries must adapt or die. When it comes to chemicals, though, the U.S. industry is adapting abroad while withering at home.

Business Week, May 2^nd, 2005

NOTES

1. BTU – British Thermal Unit – британская тепловая единица (0, 252 ккал)

2. to follow suit – следовать примеру

ACTIVE VOCABULARY

1. to average – составлять, равняться в среднем

   • average (n.) – среднее арифметическое

   • average (adj.)- средний, среднестатистический

2. to cancel – отменять аннулировать

• cancellation – отмена, аннулирование, прекращение

3. sophisticated – сложный (о машинах и оборудовании), современный, находящийся на уровне современных требований

4. to spike – резко возрасти

5. to rebound – вновь начать расти

rebound – рост, подъем (после снижения)

6. to tag – метить, пометить, наметить

• price tag – установление цены, ценник

7. demolition – ликвидация, снос, уничтожение, демонтаж

8. outfit – производственный объект

Suggest the Russian for the following word combinations.

To head abroad, enormous reserves/abundant supply of natural resources, low-cost inputs, to give an edge on the global market, to post a trade surplus, to run deficits in manufacturing sectors, exodus of industrial customers to low-wage countries, recession in manufacturing, leap in prices, domestic supplies, to сlose the price gap, sophisticated and productive facilities, weakened dollar, rebound in manufacturing, capital investment, surplus balance of trade, to do workday research, offshore research and development centers.

Text № 2

Translate the article into Russian in writing and answer the following questions:

What risks are outsourcers generally exposed to? Are they avoidable?