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Monthly Newsletter - Charlie Smith, President

Note: See Previous Newsletter

Greetings

Sorry I did not get out a letter last month, I was busy!

Comrade Gary should be back soon.

I know some of you are missing Gary Todd in the sales department. He is recovering from surgery and should be back soon. No one is missing him as much as me. His office is next to mine and sometimes I hear some of the crazy stuff he says. One day I was in the shipping office when he first got put in charge of the plant last year. He answered the phone and who ever it was on the other end of the line wanted to know what he was doing running the plant. Gary said “Hell, they put a monkey in outer space didn’t they?” 

Update on Steel Pricing

Steel Pricing: I have had conversations with some people lately that seem to have a pretty good idea of what is going on with the steel market. The price of steel going into the summer will continue to rise and hopefully will level off in July or August. There are no real signs it will go back down any time soon after that unless there is a positive change in the valuation of the dollar. The price of steel here in the US is greatly dependent on the amount of imported steel being brought in. As long as the dollar is low, the imports are staying away. Steel being manufactured here in the states is just now leveling off with the world price of hot roll. Hot roll band is what they make all sheet products out of. At these prices, US Steel manufacturers all have plenty of export opportunity and whatever is not snapped up here, is immediately going overseas. Last week, everyone’s favorite Fidel Castro with money, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez nationalized Ternium’s huge steel mill that supplies slabs to a number of hot roll mills in Mexico and the US. This mill has a daily output of about 25,000,000 pounds. I am sure after he puts a guy in charge that may have been driving a taxi last week, output from that mill will soar. In the mean time, Ternium is 3 years away from getting production from new facilities in Brazil and Mexico to make up for this loss. What that means for you and me is the COST of 24 gauge steel in June and July will be $0.25 to $0.30 a square foot higher than it was in January.  August prices appear to be about another $0.05 higher yet. I believe that is $12.00 per sheet if you buy 24 gauge flat sheets or around $0.40/sqft on panels.
 

Now on to the good news 

Our new 238T panel should be ready for production in the next couple of weeks. I have not been this fired up about a new product since we got our 32’ brake 6 years ago. This panel is light years ahead of pretty much any other Standing Seam being offered in this market. Great uplift, water tight, super fast installation, unlimited expansion, center starts, spans purlins, curves in either direction, you can take it apart and fix it if there is a problem and best of all, no double lock seamer.
 
We don’t have any photos of the 238T yet, but here is a look at our new V-7 panel. This is a nice looking Vertical application, concealed fastener ribbed wall, fascia or soffit panel. Here are the boys from ER Barnes installing V-7 on a wall at the Covington Readiness Center in Covington LA. 
 

Coping

We have our initial tests back for our ANSI-SPRI tested coping system. We got great results on a 24 gauge X 12” wide coping with a continuous 22 gauge front to back clip for a no exposed fastener system. It will go pretty much anywhere except in the highest wind zones. It maxed out at 250 lbs giving an allowable of 125 lbs.  We also tested a 12” wide 24 gauge coping hooked on a 22 gauge continuous cleat on the front and exposed fastener on the back. We maxed out the test apparatus with this system. This coping will go anywhere, just about any wind load up to 175 lbs allowable. Obviously, the most economical coping is the strongest here. Keep in mind we can do coping in lengths up to 32’ long.
 
Speaking of 32’ trim, here is a shot of an order of monster downspouts and gutters shipping up to Dallas that we made on our big brake.

Boys, it does not get much better than this if you want to save some time in the field.  

Korean Friend

Let’s see what our friend in Korea is up to now. I hope they got the customer to sign an oil can waiver on this baby. I don’t know if this is a house or an oven.

Charlie Smith
Architectural Building Components
281-931-3986
www.archmetalroof.com