Market Data
January 4, 2014
Steel Buyers Basics: Making Lemonade from Lemons
Written by Mario Briccetti
In the steel business and particularly in the painted steel business, a fair amount of non-prime or secondary flat rolled sheet and coil product is produced. Non-prime painted steel is generated either because the steel substrate is substandard or because there is a problem in the painting process. A small sample of steel problems are: rough surface, wavy edges, dents, surface chatter, out of gauge or width tolerance and galvanize/Galvalume coating problems. Paint issues can be poor adhesion, poor color match, micro-blisters, thin coating, etc.
Non-prime steel is typically sold to businesses that specialize in finding ways to utilize this material. Furthermore, these businesses, although usually small, can be quite profitable – they have learned how to make lemonade from lemons.
