ATI expects shipment delays until 2020

Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Technologies (ATI) expects its volumes to increase in the first half of 2020, after customers delay shipments of jet engine materials and components in the fourth quarter.

Shipments are projected to slide in the final quarter of 2019 because of uneven customer patterns in light of the B737 MAX slowdown and LEAP engine programs, despite strong backlogs.

Alloy shipments totaled 186.1mn lbs in the quarter ended 30 September, up from 184.2mn lbs in the same period a year earlier.

Third quarter revenues were little changed at $1.02bn. ATI's profits rose to $110mn compared with $50.5mn a year earlier, because of income tax valuation allowances.

ATI's high performance materials segment sales, excluding the recently divested titanium investment castings and industrial forgings businesses, increased by 2pc from a year ago.

Aerospace and defense represented 79pc of high performances materials and components sales in the third quarter.

Sales from the flat rolled products (FRP) segment were up by 7pc to $467mn compared with the third quarter 2018. FRP sales to the oil & gas and aerospace & defense markets continued to grow and were nearly 45pc of third quarter of sales.

ATi is a global manufacturer of specialty materials and complex components for aerospace and defense, oil and gas, electrical energy, medical, automotive and other industrial markets.