Yingdu Aluminum Says Demand for U.S. Aluminum Extrusion Products Will Not Recover in 2008

Tim Stubbs, president and chief executive officer of Canada's Indiana Aluminum (INDALEX), said on a few days that demand for aluminum extrusion products in the United States will not rebound this year, as the hard-hit US construction and housing industries will probably not rebound. Davenport Equity Research expects construction demand to drop by 11% in 2008 and 13% in 2007. Yingdu Aluminum announced earlier this month that it will close the Ohio Girard aluminum extrusion plant at the end of March due to falling demand in the construction industry. This is part of its plan to invest in an efficient sector, transfer or shut down low-capacity factories. Since 2000, Yingdu Aluminum has closed or transferred 7 factories, and production has increased compared to 2000. It also spent US$25 million to invest in a new extrusion press for its Indiana aluminum extrusion plant, which serves the transportation and distribution markets. At the same time, the extrusion company Tredegar plans to spend US$24 million during the next 18 months to restore normal construction market demand to expand its Carthage aluminum extrusion capacity in Tennessee to serve the non-residential construction market. Tim Stubbs said that the non-residential construction market is usually the last to face the downturn, but it is always the last market to recover.