Boeing's game-changing move is just the beginning

摘要

Reports of aluminum heat-treat plate's demise in the aerospace industry have been greatly exaggerated, analysts say, despite the persistent onslaught of headlines about the impending switch to carbon fiber composites. Despite the encroachment of lightweight composites, aerospace aluminum plate demand will register a 40-percent increase over the next four years, peaking at slightly less than 700 million pounds annually vs. 500 million pounds currently, according to Kevin Michaels, principal and co-founder of AeroStrat-egy LLC, Ann Arbor, Mich.