The impressive growth demonstrated by hollow structural sections (HSS) in the U.S. throughout much of the 1990s has continued into the new decade. Reporting HSS-producing member companies of the Steel Tube Institute of North America (STINA) (www.steel-tube-institute.com) were expected to record 2,050,000 tons of U.S.-destined shipments by the end of 2000. This is an increase of 10.5 percent over reported 1999 levels.While STINA captures the amount of U.S. shipments from the major manufacturers in both Canada and the U.S., a small number of companies within the industry choose not to report shipments. Nonetheless, it is believed that the total of U.S.-destined shipments of HSS from all sources was to surpass 2.7 million tons in 2000, a striking 270 percent increase in just eight years.
展开▼
