Sector Snap: Titanium producers declining

NEW YORK - Shares of titanium producers, who depend on jet aircraft makers for much of their sales, fell Thursday after an analyst cut his estimate on the number of 787 planes Boeing Co. will make next year.

Jefferies analyst Howard A. Rubel, writing in a client note, reduced to 18 from 24 the number of so-called Dreamliners he expects the Chicago-based aeronautics company will produce in 2010.

The analyst's reduced estimate follows Boeing's disclosure late last month that it needs to reinforce small areas near the connection of the wings and fuselage before conducting the test flight, which Boeing had insisted would occur before July.

The company has yet to disclose a revised schedule for the flight, as well as first deliveries to customers.

Boeing and rival Airbus, as well as other aeronautics companies, use large amounts of titanium in fuselages and engines of jet aircraft.

Rubel also said that the latest 787 delay has enabled rival Airbus to sell additional A330 jets.

Finally, a continuation in tight global credit markets could actually help Boeing, he said.

"In the end, if the financial markets are not there, then maybe lower output is not all bad."

In morning trading, Titanium Metals Corp. fell 35 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $8.80, Allegheny Technologies Inc. declined $1.07, or 3 percent, to $34.65 and Carpenter Technology Corp. eased 23 cents to $20.66.

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