A senior official with US aerospace giant Boeing urged aluminium suppliers Tuesday to bring additional rolling plate capacity online so the company could meet its expected aircraft demand. "This [aluminium] industry is a key component to our success. There's no doubt about it," said Brian Schmidt, raw materials strategist for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

"We rely on you a great deal. Growing this capacity is critical to our long-term success. If we're going to build all those planes, we've got to raise capacity," Schmidt said during a presentation at the Platts Aluminium Symposium 2007 conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. "We need more rolling capacity."

More rolling capacity is needed, Schmidt said, in part because Boeing has over the past 10 years moved more towards monolithic design rather than sheet metal build-up to plate because of its higher-quality, longer lasting, and lighter weight characteristics. "The market is demanding that we move in that direction."

Schmidt noted that lead times in the aluminium industry currently average about 26 weeks. "That puts my production at risk. I have to manage that risk." If a heat treatment or compressing mill went down, Boeing's aircraft production would be affected. "We need your help to bring more capacity on line," he said.

Boeing plans to roll out its new 787 Dreamliner in late June. The company has 36 announced customers for more than 450 aircraft, Schmidt said. The aircraft will replace Boeing's older 757 and 767 jetliners now at the end of their service life.

Though the 757 and 767 are considered aluminium aircraft, the aluminium content in the 787 will equal or exceed that of the older aircraft. And while the Dreamliner will be built with composites as well as aluminium, "there is still a significant amount of demand for aluminium in this plane."

Schmidt assured suppliers that composites would not be used in lieu of aluminium. "Aluminium is the optimal material for our aircraft," he said. Moreover, the development of second- and third-generation alloys look promising.

"We continue to recommend and encourage you to develop those, qualify those as quickly as possible, and make those as cost-competitive as you possibly can to meet the challenge that other commodities are bringing online," he said.