Aluminum is roused from its coma

摘要

Metals executives have sat bedside for the last several years while the ailing economy languished in a near coma. Now, members of the Metals Service Center Institute's (MSCI) Aluminum Products Division Council say the patient may have regained consciousness, but has yet to make it out of intensive care. "There's probably more optimism at this time of the year than last," commented Harry Jones, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Integris Metals. But "we're sitting quietly, waiting for the patient to come out of the recuperation room," added Barry Gledhill, president of New Jersey-based Samuel Specialty Metals. "This recovery is pretty tentative." Every market that consumes aluminum reflects some opportunity for improvement, Gledhill said, but sustained recovery across the entire manufacturing sector remains elusive. From a service center perspective, aluminum is heading into its two softest months of they ear, he indicated: The calendar dictates just 18 trading days in November; add in the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and any sustained relief is not likely to happen until the first quarter of 2004, he said.