If you liked last year's PHCP market, you're probably going to like this one.
Of course, 1999 has some variables that weren't as much of a factor a year or two ago. The Asian economy is still staggering, with imports from those countries flooding into the United States as their local customer bases have withered. The industrial PVF segment has been the hardest hit: The American Supply Association reports that average sales-volume increase for PVF distributors was only 4.6%, compared with 7.7% for plumbing wholesalers. Many in industrial PVF see a direct link between the alleged dumping of steel products by Asian manufacturers and the depressed pricing of the materials they themselves sell. That is certainly the position of the American steel industry, which is filing anti-dumping lawsuits and pressuring the federal government to take more action to protect domestic steel manufacturers.