Demand steady for aluminized sheet
By Staff -- Purchasing, 4/8/1999
Demand has remained healthy for aluminized sheet steel used in heat-resistant applications, due in part to somewhat lower prices. Tags may rise slightly this year, but mills see no falloff in demand.Steel coated with aluminum is used in automotive and appliance applications, and increasingly in fabrication of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems. Ricky Onishi, GM/commercial at Wheeling-Nisshin in Follansbee, W.Va., says North American consumption of aluminized sheet is about 900,000 tons/year--800,000 tons in the U.S. and 50,000 tons in both Canada and Mexico.
Besides Wheeling-Nisshin, the only other producers are AK Steel, Middletown, Ohio, and Ispat-Inland Steel, Chicago. North American production is lower than demand, requiring imports of about 100,000 tons. He says the lack of new capacity in aluminized sheet has kept supply fairly tight and prices fairly steady.
Market prices are averaging $510/ton, down slightly from $540 this time last year, but distributors expect a price hike attempt soon. Some sheet buyers also think the proposed second-quarter price increases for plain and galvanized flat-rolled products will push aluminized sheet tags up as well. "If the announced sheet price increases stick, aluminized sheet tags will follow," agrees Onishi.
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