Metals service centers acquire products from primary metals producers and then process carbon steel, aluminum, stainless steel and other metals to meet customer specifications using techniques such as blanking, leveling (or cutting-to-length), sawing, shape cutting, shearing and slitting, among others.
These processing services save our customers time, labor, and expense, reducing their overall manufacturing costs. Specialized equipment used to process the metals requires high-volume production to be cost effective. Many manufacturers and their suppliers are not able or willing to invest in the necessary technology, equipment, and inventory to process the metals for their own manufacturing or processing operations. Accordingly, industry dynamics have created a niche in the market. Metals service centers purchase, process, and deliver metals to end-users in a more efficient and cost effective manner than the end-user could achieve by dealing directly with the primary producer or with an intermediate metals processor. Service centers comprise the largest customer group for North American mills, buying and reselling almost 50% of all the carbon, alloy, stainless and specialty steels, aluminum, copper, brass and bronze, and superalloys produced in the United States according to a report issued by IBISWorld Inc. in September 2012.