11.   Inventories of semiconductors grew correspondingly.

12.   Inventories grew at an unsettling pace earlier this year as higher interest rates, sluggish income growth and widespread job insecurity led consumers to slash spending.

13.   More recent economic statistics suggest inventories are growing.

14.   Most analysts expect that the platinum stockpile will last only about another two years, though the inventory has probably grown since exports stopped in December.

15.   Now, however, world and domestic demand have caused output to slow and inventories to grow, pointing to even softer output later on.

16.   Such large harvests could outstrip rising world demand, causing inventories to grow in the year ahead.

17.   The devaluation of several Asian currencies has hurt shipments to the region, and manufacturers are now watching their inventories grow.

18.   Unless inventories grow, prices could see another large rise this year, traders said.

19.   Yet the devaluation of several Asian currencies has hurt shipments to the region, and manufacturers are now watching their inventories grow.

20.   Business inventories have grown out of proportion to sales.