NEW YORK -- Aluminum mill product shipments at the service center level flopped to a 14-month low as 1999 got under way, in marked contrast to the aluminum industry as a whole. The industry laid claim to a 5.1-percent gain for sheet, extrusions and other mill products in January and a 10.8-percent jump in ingot.

The latest tally from the National Association of Aluminum Distributors (NAAD) put the Quick Pulse shipment index (1994=100) at 111.1 for January, down 4.9 percent from the same month last year to the lowest level since November 1997.

The Aluminum Association last week reported mill product shipments industry-wide at 628,187 tonnes for gains of 9.2 percent on the previous month and 5.1 percent on January 1998.

NAAD said that distributors, who had added to aggregate inventory last year to the tune of 6.4 percent, downloaded in the opening weeks of 1999 and ended January with the aggregate inventory down about 1.5 percent for the month and down nearly 5 percent from the year-earlier level.

NAAD's executive vice president, Julie S. Thane, said that distributors were looking for a flat year in 1999 volume-wise and were determined to improve margins by improving service and paying closer attention to costs.

A review and survey prepared for NAAD by Alcan Aluminium Ltd. and released late February projected a 1.5-percent gain in shipping volume for aluminum distributors this year compared with a 0.7-percent gain for the industry as a whole.

Alcan projected that distributors would boost their share of markets in which they compete directly with the aluminum producers and fabricators to 36.9 percent this year and 37.1 percent in 2000 compared with 36.6 percent in 1997.

NAAD's monthly poll found an eastern service center inclined to chalk January's shipment gain up mainly to some inventory rebuilding at the consumer level.

A southern distributor reported in with shipping volume holding even with the year-ago level but selling prices down 6 percent.