Sellers of Secondary Feeling the Virus Crisis

Like producers and distributors of prime steel, most sellers of nonprime or secondary steel have been hard hit by the virus. Yet secondary material is still available from the mills even though their production is way down. Some distributors are doing surprisingly well, depending on their customer base and location, while others are struggling. Secondary prices remain fairly firm, at least for the high-demand items, report Steel Market Update sources.

Some distributors specialize in secondary sales while others just dabble in this niche, which involves finding new homes for coils that the original buyers have rejected. Some coils may have minor surface flaws, some may have been out of spec because of an inaccurate dimension or chemistry, yet they may be perfectly fine for a variety of alternative uses—and available for quick delivery at a discount.