Auto slowdown hammers US aluminum extruders

The North American aluminum extrusions market continues to suffer amid weak automotive demand, and more tough days lie ahead as General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC plan for temporary production shutdowns. The stronger extruders, like Kaiser Aluminum Corp. and Norsk Hydro ASA, are scaling back production, while some of the more exposed players, such as Indalex Inc. and Signature Aluminum US, have already been forced into bankruptcy. Shipments of aluminum extruded products by U.S. and Canadian producers totaled an estimated 187.6 million pounds in March, down 36.9 percent from 297.5 million pounds in March 2008, the Aluminum Association reported. Shipments of 556.2 million pounds during the first three months of the year were off 37.7 percent from 893 million pounds in the same period last year. The recession has hit the extrusion industry particularly hard, given that nearly half the extrusions made in North America go into the automotive and construction sectors, one analyst noted. In the short term, there are some more troubling signs. GM announced last month that it would idle 13 of its assembly plants in the United States and Mexico for an additional nine weeks this summer, and Chrysler has suspended production indefinitely at its North American...