But a shortage of the oil - brought on by heightened demand - will slow Kellogg's plans to reduce trans fats in its products.

In turn, shortages of fertilizer and cement have slowed construction and farming.

A worldwide shortage of optical fiber is slowing the construction of new telecommunications networks and forcing even big buyers to renegotiate supply agreements.

However, shipping shortages soon slowed the evacuation.

Seagate said a shortage of memory chips had slowed personal computer production, in turn slowing disk drive shipments.

In Canada, possible shortages of natural gas needed to upgrade the viscous but plentiful oil from Alberta might slow production, the report notes.

Yellow fever epidemics and material shortages slowed construction of the fort, which continued throughout the 1850s.

A shortage of talented programmers could slow the speed of development, Mr. Butterworth said.

Masqueray died in 1917 and shortages during World War I slowed construction.

A shortage of workers and materials slowed construction still further and, in 1939, Raeder reduced the number of ships from four to two.