US aluminum extruders readying for rise in orders

U.S. aluminum extruders and their suppliers are bracing for a surge in demand in the new year as the Commerce Department appears likely to implement countervailing duties as high as 138 percent on certain aluminum extrusions from China."That's a pretty significant leveling of the playing field," said one market source. "We could see extruders firing up presses that have been idled, bringing back shifts?it would be kind of like the recovery we never had."

Commerce's preliminary determination, announced Aug. 31, rules that Chinese producers of aluminum extrusions have been unfairly subsidized by the Chinese government, marking an upward battle for U.S. extruders striving to compete in a low-price domestic marketplace （AMM, Sept. 1）. As part of the preliminary ruling, Commerce instructed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits or bonds on imported extrusions from China based on preliminary subsidy rates of between 6.18 and 137.65