Service Centers

Ratner Sees Opportunity Down South

December 19, 2017

Ratner Steel’s new Osceola, Ark., service center may be located near Big River Steel, but Big River is only one of the mills Ratner plans to use as a source for steel, said Steve Gottlieb, Ratner president and COO.

“People think we will only do business with Big River, but our intention is to buy from various mills in that region,” he said, including Nucor, SDI-Columbus and AM/NS-Calvert. “Mills up north could also rail product down to us. We think the opportunity to have various suppliers and competitive pricing will be readily available to us.”

Ratner already has three stretch levelers in its Roseville, Minn., and Portage, Ind., locations. The company processes 400,000 tons of carbon steel annually, serving a diverse customer base that includes service centers, fabricators and OEMs.

Ratner acquired the 150,000-square-foot facility in Osceola about six months ago from a bankrupt manufacturer. The service center has purchased a new 5/8^th-inch, 76-inch-wide stretcher leveler cut-to-length line from Red Bud Industries, which it hopes to have up and running in the building by fourth-quarter 2018. The new line is designed to handle from commercial quality up to Grade 80 high-strength steels.

Ratner intends to duplicate the success it has seen at its other facilities. “With three stretch levelers in two locations doing 35,000 tons a month, we think our formula works. And it’s transportable. What we’ve done at the other locations can be successful down South,” Gottlieb said.

The proliferation of high-tech plasma and laser cutting machines has boosted demand for stretch-leveled stay-flat steel that has no residual coil memory. “We believe strongly there is a need for stretch leveling in the region. We bring a value-add to laser houses and OEMs that don’t have a lot of options right now.” Selling “as is” coils to other service centers will be another significant part of the business, he added.

The new Osceola service center’s proximity to the Mississippi River gives Ratner the flexibility to send and receive material by barge, in addition to rail and truck. The company’s goal for the new facility is a volume of 10,000 tons per month.

Gottlieb expects Ratner to begin staffing up the facility in the second quarter. Meanwhile, while it ramps up, it can supply customers from its other locations. “Hopefully, by the time the line is up and running at the end of the year, we’ll have a nice cadre of customers ready to buy from us,” he said.