Wednesday, 10 Mar 2010
Reuters quoted Mr Philip Rahrig executive director of American Galvanizers Association as saying that with a number of US construction projects still in limbo from the economic downturn, the North American galvanizing industry's recovery will remain challenged.

Mr Rahrig said that the galvanizing industry's lag time behind the rest of the economy will push any recovery back until at least 2011. He added that "We lag the economy by about 12 months because of the execution of projects, primarily from the construction industry. Everybody is still seeing a lot of projects on the board, but they are all on hold."

Mr Rahrig said that even by optimistic estimates, the industry is still six to nine months from seeing any large uptick in projects. He added that the lack of infrastructure investment from the USD 787 billion stimulus package was another disappointment for the galvanizing industry.

Mr Rahrig singled out the alternative energy, power, and original equipment manufacturers industries as sectors that may provide a brighter outlook for galvanizing. He said that "Everybody is excited about it because it is kind of an emerging market. All of the structural supports for solar farms are galvanized, and there are a lot of components on each one of the wind towers that are galvanized. It's a bright spot, but it will be small."

(Sourced from www.reuters.com)