Luxfer leaving scuba business

[Ian]

Hi, all -

For those that haven't heard, Luxfer is essentially leaving the scuba tank business. Luxfer made the aluminum 80 scuba tank ubiquitous in the 1970's and 1980's, but they have now apparently decided it is no longer profitable. They still have a very large presence in other markets such as industrial and medical cylinders, which are much larger than the scuba industry.

Note Luxfer is not stopping production per se, although they have not made a scuba tank in about three months. Instead, they have raised their pricing to distributors by more than 25%, raised minimum orders, and cut their selection of tanks by more than half. The result is they have essentially made themselves a non-player since they will be so expensive no one will buy them. There is still Catalina and Hy-Mark making aluminum scuba cylinders, and Hy-Mark cylinders are very close to the Luxfer tank's buoyancy characteristics.

Still, it's sad to see a cornerstone of the scuba industry leaving the market after many decades.