Beam Bending: Where Is the Steel to Be Curved, Purchased?


With regards to beam bending or the bending of other steel sections, what is the source of the straight material that will be curved? According to the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), 70% of steel used in construction comes from steel service centers while 30% comes directly from steel mills.

Steel mills usually require the purchase of standard bundles of material, e.g. 10,000 lbs of 2 x 2 x 3/16 angle. In the case of jumbo beams, a bundle may be only 2 or 3 pieces. If the requirement for a construction project or, for that matter, for an OEM application, is for less than a bundle of a given size of material, then the material will be sourced from a steel service center.

Steel service centers purchase steel from steel mills, break down the bundles and sell as little as one stick of a 1/2 x 1 steel bar. Moreover, the service centers stock significant amounts of steel on their warehouse floors for quick delivery. Steel mills, on the other hand, do not typically have large inventories but seek orders for future rollings which may be weeks or even months away.

Purchasers of steel might have mill quantity requirements but want to receive material over time prompting them to use a steel service center who will provide that service where a mill usually would not.

Typically, mill pricing will be lower than that of a steel service center. And steel mills often have tighter credit terms.

Regarding steel that is to be curved, the same conditions apply: what quantity of each steel section is required, when is it required, and what, if any, is the price differential between a material bought from the steel mill and that bought from a service center.

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