Category: Distributors/Service Centers

Russel Metals posted solid second-quarter earnings. The Toronto-based company anticipates a continuation in steady demand for its service centers and steel distributors.

Flack Global Metals (FGM) said it has completed an investment in Windsor America, parent of Windsor Door, Garage Door Services of USA and Lodi Door.

Despite an uncertain economic outlook, Olympic Steel is expecting demand to remain steady in the current quarter.

AZZ Inc. reported an 18% increase in net income in its fiscal first quarter of 2024, driven by a strong performance in its Metal Coatings business and by a full quarter with its Precoat Metals acquisition. The Fort Worth, Texas-based galvanizer and coil coater posted net income of $28.5 million in its fiscal Q1 ended […]

Jackson, Mich.-based Alro Steel said it plans to acquire Heimansohn Steel, a metals service center based in Clarksville, Tenn.  Alro’s aquisition is expected to close by July 28, the company said in a news release on July 11. “We are excited to welcome Heimansohn Steel to the Alro family. This acquisition will benefit our customers with […]

Leeco Steel has acquired Texas plate processor Titan Steel. Titan Steel, based in Alvarado, Texas, specializes in plasma and oxy-fuel cutting and machining of steel plate. The acquisition will allow Leeco to produce parts that require precision machining and milling. The purchase closed on June 30. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. As of […]

The US Department of Commerce recently updated antidumping and countervailing duty rates on a number of different welded pipe and tube products. An SMU review of the US government’s Federal Register show the following changes by Commerce in multiple administrative reviews: Welded Line Pipe from South Korea Considering the one-year period ended Nov. 30, 2021, […]

Ohio-based Miami Valley Steel Service Inc. (MVSS) has named Nick Straka as its new president and CEO, effective July 1.  The steel service center said Straka joined MVSS in 2005 in sales, and currently serves as the COO. He will be replacing Lou Moran, who will be stepping down as president and CEO after 14 years. […]

Sabel Steel Service Inc. has acquired Beaumont, Texas-based metals service center Sampson Steel Corp., effective Thursday, June 1. “Sampson Steel joins the Sabel Steel family with 107 years of history in the metals industry,” Keith Sabel, president and CEO of Sabel Steel, said in a statement via Linkedin. Stephen Eisen, previously president of Sampson Steel, […]

Teamsters Local 332 members at Alro Steel’s facility in Flint, Mich., have approved their most recent collective bargaining agreement. The union said the four-year agreement includes significant improvements, including a 10% average wage increase in the first year of the contract, improved protections for mandatory overtime, and the maintenance of health care benefits. Additionally, the […]

Buildings supplies distributor MacArthur Co. has completed its acquisition of American Metals Supply. American Metals, a steel products distributor, will operate as an independent subsidiary with the same team, product line, marketing presence, and locations. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “We both have a strong heritage as successful distribution businesses that share […]

Mississauga, Ontario-based service center group Russel Metals reported sequential improvement in its business segments in the first quarter, while results weakened year over year. The company reported Q1 net income of Canadian $73.9 million (US$55.2 million) on sales of nearly CA$1.2 billion compared to net income of CA$98.7 million on sales of CA$1.34 billion in […]

Alro Metals Outlet has opened a new retail location in northern Indiana. The new 17,500-square-foot outlet located in Elkhart, Ind., stocks a variety of carbon steel, aluminum, stainless steel, tool steel, copper, brass, and plastic products. Alro aims to make metal buying simple for businesses and individual customers with its outlet locations, where no minimum […]

ArcelorMittal is anticipating delays in shipments after recent incidents took down two of its European blast furnaces (BFs).  On March 22, a serious fire totally disabled BF A at its mill in Gijón, Asturias, in northeast Spain. Then, on March 30, BF HF4 at its Dunkirk plant in northern France was idled after a similar […]

Manufacturing activity in the US continued to slow during the month of March, as did general economic activity, according to the latest Manufacturing Report on Business from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The ISM’s monthly PMI index declined for a fifth consecutive month, registering 46.3% in March. This was 1.4 points lower than the […]

Ken Simonson, chief economist for The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, March 22, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about the outlook for […]

Leeco Steel has added processing equipment at its Portage, Ind., distribution center. The Lisle, Ill.-based plate supplier said it has put in a Messer MPC2000 MC combination cutting and drilling machine. It is capable of plasma cutting, oxy fuel cutting, beveling, drilling, tapping, counter sinking, and etching. Leeco noted that this expands its processing capabilities […]

Steel mill lead times, following recent pricing moves, have pushed upwards, according to SMU’s latest market survey. SMU’s hot-rolled lead time is approximately 5.4 weeks, up from 4.9 weeks at our last check of the market two weeks ago. The result is notable because lead times have been just below five weeks since the beginning of […]

Schnitzer Steel Industries has been named the most sustainable company in the world, according to a media and research organization.  The scrap recycler and long steel producer topped the 19th annual Global 100 List by Corporate Knights, which focuses on corporate sustainability performance. The list is based on an assessment of 6,720 companies, each with […]

Stellantis said it will idle its Belvidere, Ill., auto plant effective Feb. 28, 2023. The automaker, Chrysler’s European parent company, said 1,350 workers will be affected at the plant, which manufactures the Jeep Cherokee. A Stellantis spokesperson cited a range of factors for the idling, such as fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and the global […]

In this Global Economic Outlook, we look ahead to 2023 and outline our top ten calls for the global economy. These include predictions on inflation, the war in Ukraine, electric vehicles and Covid-19 in China. No. 1: Global Growth Will Slow From 2022 We expect both the US and Europe to experience recessions over the […]

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and galvanized coil base prices continues to decline, now the lowest level recorded in almost 14 months. The relationship between hot rolled and galvanized prices has been volatile since late 2021. In the last year, galvanized has sold at a premium of as little as $250 per ton ($12.50 […]

ArcelorMittal US has announced new, higher sheet prices with the opening of its 2023 order books. The company said it has also rolled out new grade extras, which will take effect on Jan 1., to reflect higher alloy costs. The price increases effectively apply to AM/NS Calvert, the Alabama mill jointly owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal […]

Nearly three-quarters of US metro areas added construction jobs year-over-year (YoY) through October, according to Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) figures. Despite the employment boost, job vacancies outpaced hiring as construction firms struggled to find enough qualified workers to hire, the report said. Construction employment increased in 268, or 75%, of 358 metro areas […]

At the end of October, Friedman Industries began shipping material from its new coil processing facility on the campus of Steel Dynamics Inc.’s newest sheet mill in Sinton, Texas. The Longview, Texas-based processor’s new 70,000-square-foot facility includes a new stretcher leveler cut-to-length line that’s able to process coils up to one-inch thick and in widths […]

Metal products service center Gerber Metal Supply Co. has been purchased by All Metals Industries Inc. (AMI). Gerber is a New Jersey-based distributor of carbon sheet steel, strip, blanks, and edge processed material. Belmont, New Hampshire-based AMI is a finisher and distributor of carbon, aluminum, stainless, and coated sheet and coil products serving the Northeastern […]

Canadian service center Russel Metals posted lower earnings in the third quarter of 2022 on falling prices and customer destocking. The Mississauga, Ontario-based service center posted net sales of Canadian $1.27 billion ($938.58 million USD) in third quarter of this year, up 15% from $1.11 billion in the same quarter in 2021. But net income dropped to […]

Marubeni-Itochu Steel America Inc. (MISA) has acquired Worthington Specialty Processing (WSP), a joint venture between Worthington Industries and United States Steel Corp. The New York-based value-added steel and aluminum processor and North American subsidiary of Japan’s Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc. acquired WSP’s only remaining facility in Jackson, Mich. in an all-cash deal for an undisclosed sum. […]

Flat rolled distributor Mill Steel has launched an order tracking feature that customers can use to track their orders and estimated time of arrival. The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company aims to streamline its supply chain process with enhanced digitalization as a value-added service. In 2020 it launched an app for the painted coil market and […]

The reshoring of US manufacturing, nonresidential construction, and semiconductor manufacturing are key areas where Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. remains incredibly bullish. Speaking on the company’s third quarter earnings conference call with analysts on Thurs., Oct. 27, executives expressed their optimism for these markets. Reshoring/nearshoring is “legit,” and the company is “pumped up about it,” […]