Tube market on the up

The market for tubes is expected to strengthen in 2005, with the overcapacity of recent years eliminated, according to Corus Tubes.

A dip in demand in the last quarter of 2004 was a blip caused by stockholders reducing their holdings, and the business is now on the upward phase of the cycle, say managers.

“Supply and demand are in better balance and margins are healthier,” said Corus Tubes Market Development Engineer Andrew Orton, “The 10 or 15% overcapacity of the last few years has come to an end.”

Demand in the construction sector is more buoyant than other big users of tubes, such as energy and automotive, he added.

Construction is by far the biggest user of hot-finished tubes because of their superior material properties such as ductility and weldability. They are used in sports stadiums, motorway gantries and increasingly as the main structural columns in prestige office buildings such as the Wellcome Trust’s new headquarters (page 16).

“They’re now almost the default choice for big external trusses in stadiums,” said Mr Orton. The strengthening in demand is being seen across the construction market, rather than in any particular application, he added.