4130 steel price increase

[ave8rr]

From the news desk of RAA Canada.

 

Price of 4130 steel tubing going up

 

If you have a project that will require 4130 tubing for its completion it would be wise to buy this as soon as possible. Aircraft Spruce has been hit with price rises of nearly 100% from their manufacturers. In North America there are not many manufacturers of this specialty tubing - thank the past decade of government and corporate policies that have sent manufacturing offshore. Chrome-Moly tubing is not a high volume commodity so there have historically been few mills that will make the investment to make this. The small handful that are left appear now to be taking the opportunity to capitalize on the short supply, and how can anyone who has run a business blame them?

 

Aircraft Spruce will sell current inventory at the normal prices but newly purchased inventory will have to reflect their increased costs. This is not good for builders of aircraft. There will likely be a knock-on effect of lower sales of fabric and the attendant supplies that have historically been purchased to cover newly built tube and fabric aircraft.