Newsletter 51 - April 2010

"Keeping you Informed"

Prices

(1st Jan 06 = 100 units)

                        From 1st Apr (1st Jan) Last 12 months

                                     2010  (2009)    High           Low

Merchant Bar                 155  (125)      155 (04/10) 120 (07/09)

(Rounds, Flats, Angles etc)                      

Heavy sections              151  (127)     160 (03/09) 127 (01/10)

(Beams, Columns etc)                              

Hollow Sections             151  (130)     151 (04/10) 122 (06/09)  

(Box, Tubes etc)                                     

Prices

BEWARE.. all steel prices are going up and very quickly. Merchant bar prices increased in mid March by £30/t and followed by another £50/t from 1st April. A further £85/t is to be introduced from 15th April. Heavy section prices have gone up by £50/t in March and will go up by a further £60/t from 2nd May. Hollow section forward prices are up by about £80/t and there are no signs that prices will stop surging forward. Escalating raw material costs of scrap, coal, power and iron ore plus exchange rate fluctuations, are fuelling these price increases. Keep phoning us so we can keep you as up to date as possible.

Supply

These sudden price increases have led to a large influx of orders. Mills are very busy in the short/mid term and there could be some shortages of popular sizes.

Demand
Despite wildly escalating prices and lead times going out, demand is still nothing special and in some key areas is still very slow. However this is the UK/European position, worl demand continues to grow at amazing rates (China, India etc) and surplus European production is easily absorbed in the world markets.

Credit

Still very tight and will remain so for another 6 months at least.

Tomrods

We are delighted to announce that after many years of searching we have eventually found a property where we can put all stocks and services under one roof. We have exchanged contracts for the purchase of Hambleton Steelworks in Thirsk with a completion date of June 2010. We currently rent half this property from Thircon Limited but have agreed terms for the purchase of the whole site which covers 9 acres of land adjoining the A19. We have been pursuing a strong cost reduction initiative and the purchase of this site, along with the installation of two new fully automatic saws, will make a significant difference to our costs. This will help us offer our customers an even more responsive and competitive solution to their requirements. It will be sad to move out of Knaresborough after 30 years but we must progress with the times. We will keep everyone informed of all changes as and when they occur.

Thank you for reading this and if you have any comments about Tomrods Ltd or our website please email the undersigned at johnt@tomrods.co.uk

John Thompson
Managing Director -