Abstract: An improvement in the method for extruding ethylene polymers which are extruded through an extruder apparatus including an extruder screw having a screw root and a series of flights having a leading edge and a trailing edge. The extruder apparatus also has an inlet end and a discharge end and wherein the pitch ratio divided by the depth ratio is greater than 2/3. The improvement provides a metallic coating selected from the group such as nickel coating or a matte chrome finish on the screw root and the leading and trailing edges of the flights, the coating being present in an amount sufficient to increase the output of the extruder screw.