One of the theories we hold at Steel Market Update is as cycles ebb and flow so do the flat rolled steel spot prices service centers charge their customers. When markets are weak, distributors lower steel prices in order to move off older high-priced inventories and to generate cash. There comes a point when so […]
BUTLER, IND. – January 12, 2017 – Jerry Henry, Jr. announced today that he has acquired the remaining 50 percent equity interest in Paragon Steel, LLC. Paragon Steel is a distributor and “toll processor” of flat-rolled steel products for a wide range of customers. The company was founded in 1994 as a joint-venture between Henry […]
Union Corrugating Company, based in Fayette, NC, has been acquired by Industrial Opportunity Partners. The acquisition preserves Union’s current managing team while adding IOP operating Principal Dave Mackin as Chairman. Keith Medick will continue to serve as Union’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “I am personally excited to work with Union’s management team and employees […]
M&M Manufacturing, a subsidiary of MiTek Industries and a leading producer of sheet metal products, for the air distribution and ventilation markets, has acquired Snappy Company. Snappy is a leading supplier of metal duct systems for the residential HVAC market, with manufacturing facilities in Detroit Lakes, MN; Medina, NY; and corporate offices in Marietta, GA. […]
Flat rolled steel service centers and wholesalers sell material into what is called the “spot” market. The spot market is where a service center customer buys material at whatever price the market will bear in order to fill a short term need. Over the years Steel Market Update has found that when flat rolled steel […]
Inventories, and whether they are too tight right now, have been a topic of discussion lately. Eddie Lehner, CEO of Ryerson Holdings commented on this during the Ryerson earnings call last week. In his prepared remarks Lehner said, “Notwithstanding, the decline of CRU carbon sheet prices from a peak late in the second quarter of […]
Ryerson Holding Co., a processor and distributor of metals in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and China, reported net income of $8.2 million for third quarter. Sales for the quarter totaled $735.1 million, essentially unchanged from second quarter. Shipments fell 5.0 percent sequentially and 2.4 percent year-over-year to 480,000 tons. The lower volume was partially offset […]
The following “letter to the editor” was prompted by comments made by Lourenco Goncalves CEO of Cliffs Natural Resources during his earnings conference call with analysts and reported on by Steel Market Update (and others). The comments below were made by an executive at a domestic steel service center in response to Mr. Goncalves: I’m […]
Ryerson Holding Corp., a leading distributor and processor of metals, provided guidance for its third quarter ending September 30, 2016. The Company expects third quarter 2016 net income in the range of $8 million to $12 million and adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO in the range of $46 million to $50 million. In Q3 2015, Ryerson […]
SMU attended the regional meeting of the Associated Steel Distributors (ASD) on Sept. 15 in Cleveland, Ohio. The meeting was well attended for a presentation by Cliffs Natural Resources CEO Lourenco Goncalves. Mr. Goncalves spoke about the environment, trade and how conditions in the iron ore industry impact global steel supply, or, in recent years, […]
Ryerson Holding Corp, a leading metals distributor and processor, reported net income of $5.6 million for second quarter 2016. Sales of $739.8 million declined 12 percent year over year due to lower average selling price, but increased 5.3 percent from Q1. Tons shipped increased 3.5 percent. Ryerson expects manufacturing growth to remain slow in the […]
A.M. Castle & Co., a specialty metals distributor, announced that it will sell its 50 percent joint venture ownership in Kreher Steel Business to partner Duferco. Duferco will become the 100 percent owner of Kreher in exchange for a purchase price of approximately $31.6 million. The transaction is expected to close August 22, 2016. The […]
Union Partners LLC, a hands-on full service investment company, has acquired Berg Steel Corp., effective Aug. 1, 2016. There will be no interruption to service for customers of the Royal Oak, MI steel service center. Union Partners portfolio includes Mapes & Sprowl Steel LLC, Chicago Steel Holdings LLC, JIT Steel Services LLC, JIT Steel Transport, […]
Steel Technologies LLC plans to invest $18 million in a new processing facility in Smyrna, Tennessee. The 83,000 square foot facility will create 50 new jobs and handle both steel and aluminum sheet. “This new greenfield operation expands our exposed and unexposed automotive slitting and blanking capabilities,” Steel Technologies Vice President of Operations Randall Patterson […]
Moon Township, Pa., May 31, 2016—CENTRIA Architectural Systems, an industry leader in the design, development and manufacture of metal wall and roof systems, is pleased to announce that Ralph Smillie and Pat Baker have been promoted to Vice President, CAS Distribution and National Accounts Manager, respectively. Smillie, a 25-year sales, marketing and management veteran, began […]
AM Castle reported a net loss of $44.8 million for first quarter 2016. Net sales were down 13.1 percent year over year to $163.8 million. A significant portion of sales, $27.1 million, were from the liquidation of the company’s energy related inventory from the recent closure of the Houston and Edmonton facilities. Excluding this, net […]
Ryerson Holding Corporation reported net income of $13.5 million for the first quarter of 2016, compared to a loss of $2.5 million for the first quarter of 2015. Revenues were $702.6 million for the first quarter of 2016, down 19.1 percent from the year-ago period due to a 19.4 percent decline in the average selling […]
Steel Market Update received a number of comments regarding our “Tsunami” article published in Sunday evening’s issue. A large service center shot us an email about something they were seeing in their market. We did some checking with other service centers and did not see this as a pressing issue but we might be in […]
Flat Rolled Steel Service Centers Comment About Their Relationship Customers Late last week Steel Market Update started canvassing flat rolled steel distributors about their customer base in an effort to better understand the psyche of their customers. We found there are essentially three camps buying from the domestic steel service centers: 1) Contract customers tied […]
In order for prices to reverse course, service center inventories will need to grow which would ultimately slow mill order books and relax lead times. The service centers we spoke with today were almost unanimous in their opinion that now is not a good time (or any easy time) to build inventories. However, there were […]
Mill Steel Company, one of the nation’s largest distributors of flat-rolled carbon steel, announced the appointment of Pam Heglund to President. Heglund will be the first female president of a steel service center of this size. Heglund was Mill Steel’s first intern, starting at the company in 2000 and serving the past five years as […]
The Association of Steel Distributors (ASD), which in March celebrated its 73rd anniversary, swore in Andrew (Andy) Gross, President & CEO of Alliance Steel as the new President of the ASD during its spring meeting held in Naples, Florida earlier this month. The new ASD president told SMU that he wants to expand the exposure […]
Manufacturing companies were almost unanimous when asked what service centers were doing with prices to them right now. Eighty one percent of the manufacturing companies responding to our survey reported distributors as raising prices. As you can see by the graphic below this is a tremendous change in price direction and market pricing momentum. It […]
We know our readers enjoy hearing comments from those with whom we speak on a regular basis regarding market trends and pricing. We have had an active week heading into the first full week of April so here are some of the things our readers and sources are talking about during the last week of […]
Ryerson CEO Eddie Lehner called 2015 “one of the harshest and most difficult metal environments we have seen in terms of magnitude and duration.” Ryerson Holding, a service center company, announced fourth quarter and full year results on Thursday. The company posted a net loss of $20.5 million for the quarter. Revenue was down 23 […]
The Association of Steel Distributors (ASD) has selected the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International® (FMA) to manage their association. ASD will continue to operate as an independent association, but will rely on FMA for management of its day-to-day affairs, membership relations and development, event planning, compliance and reporting issues, and general operation needs. For 73 […]
Mill Steel Co., one of the nation’s largest distributors of flat-rolled carbon steel, has acquired certain assets of S&S Steel Services, Inc. (S&S), an Indianapolis/Anderson based supplier of carbon flat-rolled steel service. Terms of the deal, which closed on January 11, 2016, were not disclosed. S&S Steel services manufacturing customers in the Midwest, Mid-South and […]
The year 2015 was a brutal one for the domestic steel mills as well as the distributors who service the end user markets on a spot basis. Many of the service centers who purchase secondary (non-prime or excess) steel have suffered and have had to change the way they conduct business in order to survive. […]
Moon Township, Pa., January 21, 2016—CENTRIA Coating Services (CCS), a leading provider of custom coil coating services, precise color matching and rapid turnaround for both small and large orders, is proud to announce the appointment of Jerry T. Hatley, Jr. as Vice President, CENTRIA Coating Services. “We are proud to welcome Jerry to the CENTRIA […]
Mill Steel, a distributor of flat rolled carbon steel, has announced the acquisition of certain assets of S&S Steel Services for an undisclosed amount. S&S Steel Services, located in Anderson, Ind., is a supplier of carbon flat-rolled steel services serving manufacturing customers in the Midwest, Mid-South and Mid-Atlantic United States. S&S will continue steel slitting […]