where to buy BULK steel...

[REVCAM_Bob]

Does anyone know where to go to buy bulk steel?
Specifically A2 and D2 like in large plates, I want to go directly to the steel
mills, but do not know who the steel mills are....

[Mcgyver]

how much volume? to buy from the mill you need volume, you're buying volume now but don't know the mills that make it? ask whoever you're buying it from for the mill certs, that'll tell you, or google US steel producers and start calling....but you'll to talk about how much you're buying per month, ie your forecast, to get their attention. service centres, like most distribution companies, don't make huge margins and will compete for the business, depending on weirdness of steel supply chain pricing on any given day they could be cheaper than the mill. an advantage of mill buying, if you're say GM, is that you can forward contract and lock in prices, but even then its often handled by services centres providing logistics etc

[REVCAM_Bob]

Volume could be $10,000 + per month. At what point do the mills allow you to buy direct?

[Mcgyver]

from my limited exposure. that is to small for mill buying, but that doesn't mean much. There are lots of mills of different sizes and it depends on what you are buying.....coils, they'll probably laugh at 10k a month, mini mill rebar, who knows. call them up and see. what are you trying accomplish though? you likely won't get any better pricing from the mills than the large service centres, and then you've got the logistics hassle. One reason the big guys buy from the mill is forward demand contracts, you lock in prices and supply certainty and the mill locks in sales for a % of production, but thats for Gm & Ford stuff, not 10k/month. for the direct answer to your question, just call some up, they'll all have a sales desk and you'll get a real answer

[REVCAM_Bob]

Thanks McGyver, just on a constant quest to save money. Things are tight these days you know.

[Geof]

I don't know what the dollar value was or the weight but I enquired about a mill run of ERW tube; 1-3/4" by 3/4" 16guage. The minimum order was 80,000 lineal feet.