A25 Cocaine smuggling has increased to near-normal levels weeks after the Colombian drug crackdown reduced shipments, experts say.

He said that there had also been reduced shipments of semifinished steel to other steel producers and more intense competition in the market for structural steel products.

As supplies tightened, the major oil companies kept supplying their own brand-name service stations but reduced shipments to independent stations.

However, the Union Navy gradually increased in size throughout the war, and was able to drastically reduce shipments into Confederate ports.

Under the accord, Brazil will reduce shipments of hot-rolled steel by about 28 percent, and will export no more than 295,000 metric tons to the United States.

Novell said the revenue drop reflected drastically reduced shipments to dealers and distributors as it tried to reduce excess inventory among resellers.

In the mass-market paperback category, Mr. Kirshbaum said, the company reduced shipments by between 10 percent to 20 percent.

Mr. Bennett also disclosed today that Colombia has asked Washington for help in reducing shipments of American arms to drug traffickers in that country.

In response to the shortage, some ammunition distributors reduced shipments to individual stores.

It also refused to say when it first knew it would have to reduce shipments, though it said it had announced the decrease in "a swift manner."