Steel Bulletin News January 2015

PRICES

Steel prices over the last 6 months have been steadily declining; this is nothing to do with the UK economy, which is in a healthy state but due to the international market place. The European economy is not growing and the euro is weakening against sterling, which leads to downward price pressures on steel imports into the UK from Europe. Further afield scrap and other commodity prices have fallen but a general collapse in prices has been avoided as the dollar strengthened against the pound and other currencies. What of the next 3 months? We think we are at or near the bottom of the cycle with signs that a price recovery may be just around the corner, for up to date information please give us a call on 01845 528200.

SUPPLY

The future supply of heavy sections, (beams, columns, parallel flange channels and large angles) is uncertain due to the proposed takeover of Tata Long Products Division. There is speculation that the mill may close which would take a major supplier out of the market. At present the supply of certain sizes have been disrupted as mill rollings are cancelled or delayed. Tomrods continues to hold healthy stock levels of all products to make sure we maintain our exceptional levels of service to all our customers.

TOMRODS LTD

2014 has been an exceptional year for Tomrods and we will again report pre-tax profits despite a background of falling prices. We have invested heavily in our future; 6 new members of staff; 2 new sideloaders; a cherry picker; 2 new 5 tonne overhead cranes; a 25,000 square foot extension to our outside stocking area and finally we have bought a brand new state of the art Vernet Behringer cut and drill line. Total capital expenditure in the region of £750,000. We will be sending out separate information, which will explain all the new facilities that we will be offering, these will include notching, scribing and milling. We are excited as we look forward to sharing these new facilities with both existing and new customers.

On a more personal level we were delighted to acknowledge the contribution of two special members of staff, Frank Metcalfe has completed 25 years of service as our most experienced class 1 driver and Eddie Plumpton has completed 30 years as warehouse supervisor. Pictures and a separate article will follow in this website but their loyalty and commitment to Tomrods cannot be overestimated. We thank them both and look forward to many more years of service.

The last 6 months has also seen another football match, this time team “Thompson” managed to pip team “McDougall” 3-2, we all look forward to the deciding match next spring which gives certain “older” players the chance to recover or come to their senses and retire gracefully. A record month of deliveries was rewarded with a company trip in November to the Go Kart Centre in York. There were so many of us, male and female, that we had to split it into two sessions, a week apart, with a final for the individual winners due to take place in February, which again will give everyone time to recover from bruised ribs and other minor injuries. The golf day in October went well, the weather was kind, and Laurence McDougall came away with the coveted Tomrods Shield. Finally the annual darts competition took place in December, this time it was won by one of our new recruits Craig Monk.

As you can see 2014 has been a busy year especially if you add all the hard work that went into Tomrods being one of the very few fully certified CE Marking steel service centres. We have a great team at Tomrods and we are enjoying being one of the best, if not the best, steel stockholder and service centre in the North of England. We have come a long way over the last 41 years and look forward to 2015 when we will be upgrading our complete computer system and, we hope, raising a lot of money to support an orphanage in Malawi where some of the children are living with HIV/AIDS.

A very big thank you to all our customers, suppliers and friends for their continued support and we wish you all a successful, healthy and peaceful 2015.

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

John Thompson
Managing Director