No steel, need advice

Moser Engineering can't buy steel at a decent price to fill orders right now. Phonecons with Moser show they are pretty much down for up to 5 weeks from now and it's already been 3 weeks since my first call. Seems the Chinese are buying up most of the steel in this country making bulk steel prices out of sight.

Anybody have any suggestions as to alternatives on getting D30 custom axles built?

tellicorick said:

Moser Engineering can't buy steel at a decent price to fill orders right now. Phonecons with Moser show they are pretty much down for up to 5 weeks from now and it's already been 3 weeks since my first call. Seems the Chinese are buying up most of the steel in this country making bulk steel prices out of sight.

Anybody have any suggestions as to alternatives on getting D30 custom axles built?

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Call Dutchman. www.dutchmanms.com

until steel prices go down there are A LOT of fab shops in california that are not producing or fabb'ing any work right now. Theres just no money in it unless you want a 1000 front bumper


-Red

as of a couple of weeks ago I thought the prices were holding steady or backing off a little, maybe it has gotten worse.

There have been large advances in the field of non-steel axles, perhaps a look to the garages of the midwest may provide an answer.


Rev

goddamn chinese

We're the ones selling it....

tellicorick said:

Moser Engineering can't buy steel at a decent price to fill orders right now. Phonecons with Moser show they are pretty much down for up to 5 weeks from now and it's already been 3 weeks since my first call. Seems the Chinese are buying up most of the steel in this country making bulk steel prices out of sight.

Anybody have any suggestions as to alternatives on getting D30 custom axles built?

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welcome to last january.

prices have stabilized over the summer. There is no steel shortage.

Beez,

Then why did we just get hit with a 14% across-the-board prce increase on Sept 7th here? And the minumum order went from 2500# to 3500# on all 3 of our regular suppliers? Seems Chi-town is having a better time with steel than Colorado! Send some of it down here. We're dying! Pueblo just shut down a scrap processing mill for lack of work that had been in business for over 50 years.

Anyway, wish I had axle advice. There are indeed some nice aluminum jobs being made, but no idea about what there is in the line of a D30. Sorry I couldn't be any help.

-Rich

goddamn americans

small pederson said:

goddamn americans

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Worse than that, it all started with GW's steel industry protection measures shortly after his election. It's been down hill ever since.

Support the death of manufacturing in this country, buy at WalMart.

--ron

I heard the other day that the price of steel has gone up 70% since the begining of the year. I wish I had stock in that......

:huh:
I don't understand?
I just got a lot of steel for 150 bucks..(18 feet of 2"x6"x11gage tubing) enough for my front and rear bumpers and swing arm and i even got 16 gage sheets for my floor for 40 bucks for a 4x8 sheet...
Is there a certian type of steel that is hard to get?

Maybe I missed somthing...:banghead:

10ft of 2x4 .250 wall for $86.74 OTD
4'x4' 1/8" sheet $67.21
2'x2' 1/4" sheet $45.47

Last March:
4'x4' 1/8" sheet $37
4'x4' 1/4" sheet $51

We can all argue that there isnt a shortage, but if the market demands it, the price will stay up.
Concrete is up a lot also here(NM). I needed to make "shoes" for a couple of whacks I did, and I ended up using sand bags instead.
If its chromoly you're after. Chassis Shop is still pretty cheap. No limit and shipped in 4ft lengths makes it really affordable via UPS.

Muduck,

Just to give you some idea, you bought about 117 pounds of tube at about $1.28/pound. We track steel every week without fail for pricing at my company in order to keep bids in line, and that same amount of tube would have cost you about $70 this time last year from my company, including our markup to the consumer. Currently, it would run you about $135. And your 4x8 sheet weighs around 25 pounds...and sheet is cheaper than tube. Last year this time sheet would've cost you about $.51/pound (or about $13 for your 4x8). So after all is said and done, in a year (for whatever reasons) yur cost has doubled. Most steel is still plentiful, but it costs more. Try finding a W14x311 beam, though. We use them at my shop, and the lead time used to be 4-6 days last summer. Now, it's 2-5 weeks.

It's like anything within the last year, though. The price is headed skyward.

-Rich

People are getting slammed by vendors because they are not pushing back!

sure, purchasing volume does get attention, but its up to the buyers not to stand for the disgusting price-jacking thats going on.

I just bought 500,000 pounds of coiled wire for .38 a pound, which is only .07 higher than what we paid the last time we ran the job.

Not only was the price not "double" like everyone else seems to be setting some kind of "trend" at, the delivery was start-ship 5 days.

Keep pushing back.

THERE IS NO REASON that steel prices should be going up, demand has leveled.

these fawkers are trying to make up for the hits they took in the first quarter

Beez,

Domestic demand is indeed close to level. Export has even approached that. But overall tonnage of steel going through our country's doors has increased. You buy from a mill at a cheaper rate than my company has seen in a long time. Most folks buying small amounts will go through a supplier, which probably has 3 or more people in between them and a mill. Everyone along the way needs their cut. 7 cents more per pound on what used to be 31 cents reflects a 22.5% increase in your cost. That's a big hit to take at a mill for half a million pounds. Factor in 3 more "people", each marking up 10-30%, and you see why it gets bad quickly for end-users. Another price increase for structural members of $10/ton is scheduled for Oct 1st, too. Dreamy.

And did I mention the 7% fuel surcharge a lot of suppliers are charging?

Not to mention the coke demand going through the roof. China used over 140 tons last year, up from 100 in 2000. The price is still close to the all-time peak, but again, the overall quantity is a lot greater.

And a serious question: If my company were to push back, who would we push and how, without undermining our current and future contracts? Keep in mind, we only stock about 85-100 tons. Most of our contracts are under 250 tons of steel of all kinds of material, from 14ga sheet for stairs to junior channel to HSS to wide flange beams. Most of the companies in this city are under the impression that there isn't enough pull to impact mills in your area of Texas or Canada (where we end up getting our steel).

Nice little article/letter here, for all interested in a breakdown:

http://www.mii.com/site/frameset.asp?siteid=1&main=/page/open.asp?pid=3300

-Rich

Hmmmm....the Emergency Steel Scrap Coalition has been formed.

http://www.scrapemergency.com/

Colorado_XJ said:

And did I mention the 7% fuel surcharge a lot of suppliers are charging?


-Rich

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If I told my customers that my prices had to increase 7% because of fuel surcharges, they would tell me to fuck off, and buy from china.

thats what I'm dealing with.

In order to meet demand, We've had to decrease our deliveries from 6-8 weeks to 2-4 weeks, because we can no longer compete on price.

I've had to purchase exotic cnc machinery to steamline our process, and those capital improvements have cut into raises and bonuses, but at least we didn't have to lay anyone off. **WE** had to suck it up, and it is absolutely UNREASONABLE for any of our vendors to think they can simply pass on thier increases to thier customers. Since we all know what our customers would say to those irresponsible passing along of increases, we've "pushed back" and told several of our vendors to "fuck off" and figure out a way to suck it up, and plug thier own leaks so that thier increased efficiency will allow the room.

Lastly, and most importantly.....My business is not huge. There are thousands of accounts in chicago that are much larger, and my company represent only a small percentage of yearly sales to our various vendors....however, we are the fastest pay int he city. We pay our invoices upon recipt usually, taking anywhere from 1/2-5% discounts in the process. Quick pay accounts, no matter how small or how large, will certainly get the attention of the suppliers you do business with. We are a smallish-medium sizes company that gets treated like a big player......

38 cents a pound on coiled bright basic is a very decent price today. I am fully aware that it is roughly 25% higher than the last time the particular material was ordered...BUT WE'RE NOT PAYING DOUBLE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!
so when we recieve ridculous quotes, or increase notifications, our response is "fuck off".

it takes balls to push back on a vendor, but not nearly the amount necessary to pass on a stupid increase to the people putting food on your table.....YOUR CUSTOMER.

Healthy food for thought, Beezil. Thanks for the time and info and input. The trickle-down is what's kicking our asses. No layoffs here, either. But trimming profits means lost bonuses and other perks that used to be there. Thanks again.

-Rich