http://www.metalcenternews.com RSS feeds for Metal Center News 60 http://www.metalcenternews.com/Editorial/CurrentIssue/Dec2012/tabid/5937/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9538/MCN-Service-Center-Executive-of-the-Year.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.metalcenternews.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5937&ModuleID=14319&ArticleID=9538 http://www.metalcenternews.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=9538&PortalID=51&TabID=5937 http://www.metalcenternews.com/Editorial/CurrentIssue/Dec2012/tabid/5937/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9538/MCN-Service-Center-Executive-of-the-Year.aspx Click here to download entire article with pictures. 2012 Executive of the Year William Hickey Big Success, Small Ego Bill Hickey, president of Lapham-Hickey Steel in Chicago, personifies leadership, both of his third-generation family business and the service center industry at large. By Dan Markham, Senior Editor Bill Hickey, the 2012 Metal Center News Service Center Executive of the Year, loves to talk about the critical importance of U.S. manufacturing. He excitedly discusses Lapham-Hickey Steel’s long heritage as a distributor and processor and the company’s dedicated workforce. He can speak for days about politics and the need for free and fair trade policies to lead America’s economic resurgence. The one subject he isn’t terribly comfortable talking about is Bill Hickey and his accomplishments. Each year, MCN recognizes an individual whose career and business strategies represent a model for the rest of the industry. Hickey, the long-serving leader of his third-generation family enterprise, meets those requirements with ease. Hickey has headed up the family business, one of the largest service center companies in North America, for almost 35 years. He has been a key figure in the industry, serving as an officer in the Metals Service Center Institute and other trade groups. And he has become an increasingly important voice in the policy arena, leading the industry’s appeal for a comprehensive domestic manufacturing agenda and stronger enforcement of trade laws (see sidebar). But Hickey, in keeping with his modest tradition, sees his role as more of a cog in the machine than a driving force. Lapham-Hickey Steel was founded 86 years ago by his grandfather, Frank Hickey, and the Lapham brothers, Edward and Burnham. His grandfather had been an executive with Milwaukee Steel, while the Laphams were selling bar products for Edgar T. Ward’s service center company. Each was looking for something more. They found it through the Fitzsimmons Bar Co., which was looking to sell its cold-drawn bar depot in Chicago. The partners intended to open the new service center business on Jan. 1, 1926, but found themselves short of funds. With the help of another minority partner, George Clifford, they opened Lapham-Hickey Steel a month later. The company grew slowly through the early years. By the end of the Korean War, the Lapham Brothers had reached retirement age and wanted out of the business. They sold their shares to the Hickey family, where son William had joined his father. The Clifford family maintained a share through the 1970s, then sold its portion of the business. But even when the company fell under the sole ownership of the Hickey family, the operation never stopped giving the Laphams top billing on the marquee. “It was my father’s idea because that was the brand name. That’s what we’d worked so long for, and that’s what we were recognizable for,” Bill Hickey says. “All of us, as individuals, are replaceable.” That ego-free approach remains a guiding principle for Hickey, who says his company’s success is the byproduct of all its family members, not just the ones who share his last name. “This award is a reflection of the great group of people we have,” he says of becoming the 16th recipient of MCN’s Executive of the Year honor. “The people here make this place work. It certainly isn’t me.” His colleagues would vigorously dispute that assertion. “I can’t say enough about him; otherwise I wouldn’t have been here for 40 years,” says Jeff Hobson, the company’s vice president of operations and systems. “He sets a direction that we try to follow, but he’s always open to suggestions, ideas and thoughts. He allows us to do what we have to do.” Bob Pilond, the chief financial officer, has been with Lapham-Hickey for 18 years, which makes him a “short-timer” in an operation where the long-standing employee is the norm. The 69-year-old steel industry veteran says he should have retired several years ago, “but I just enjoy working with Bill. He’s very focused and very dedicated.” Though Hickey himself recently reached age 60, he remains as committed to the job as ever, establishing a work ethic that permeates throughout the organization. His son Brian, one of three children who have joined the family business, jokes that his father’s favorite hobby is Lapham-Hickey Steel. “I kid about it, but on weekends he will come in and look at inventory,” says Brian, who serves as general manager of the company’s original Chicago branch. In addition to Brian, Hickey has three other children with his wife of 38 years, Leslie. His oldest son Will manages the company’s Little Canada operation in Minnesota. Daughter Laura heads up the company’s maintenance and repair operations. Youngest daughter Mary Ellen is the only child who didn’t join the family business. Though he grew up in the business, working summers during his college days, Bill Hickey’s ascent to the leadership role was sudden and unexpected. In 1977, his father William suffered a cerebral hemorrhage one afternoon. He was dead by nightfall. At 24, and just a few years out of college, Bill was responsible for the family business, sharing the duty with a senior executive for the first few years. “The bell rings and you’ve got to go,” Hickey says of his rapid thrust into the chief executive’s role. “What can you do?” He did then what he would continue to do over the next three decades. He worked hard, sought out the counsel of those with more experience and knowledge and learned from each mistake along the way. “I was smart enough to know I wasn’t smart enough to run it. There were a lot of good people here who could help me, and I leaned on them.” He was a quick study. When he took over, the company had three operations: the main branch in Chicago, a second facility in St. Louis and a third in Neenah, Wis. Since then, Lapham-Hickey has grown to seven locations with 650 employees and more than $300 million in annual revenue. While substantial, the growth was not done simply to get larger. Each new facility, none of which is identical in products and services, was the result of a careful examination of each market and what it offered to the company and its customers. A prime example is the Wisconsin operation, which had relocated from its original facility in Neenah to nearby Oshkosh. The Oshkosh facility is a dramatically different operation than Chicago’s, which specializes in a number of different coil processing functions. The Wisconsin branch focuses on long products and its more recently opened fabrication operation. The fab shop was launched when one of the facility’s larger customers informed Lapham-Hickey that it was no longer going to buy steel, but fabricated parts. So, Lapham-Hickey did what was necessary to keep the valued customer. “We see more and more customers who want to buy components that are part of an assembly. They don’t want to invest money in capital equipment they’re going to run maybe one shift a day,” he says. “So we put in a laser, we put in a press brake.” The transformation from traditional service center to first-step manufacturer wasn’t embraced by all, as some customers were concerned their supplier was now competing with them. “I just said I was following my customer,” he explains. That customer-driven mindset and adaptability have been hallmarks of Lapham-Hickey Steel and key contributors to the company’s success. They are evident in examples both large and small. At the Chicago facility, the company specializes in slitting, with a broad range of widths. That includes small slitters capable of shaving strips into pieces no wider than a fingernail. This type of processing is not in high demand, nor high supply, resulting in highly specialized orders from all over the country. But such capabilities also create their own issues. Standard packaging options aren’t appropriate for some of these products, many of which are shipped through UPS. Lapham-Hickey’s solution: devote a small section of the facility to an internal lumber yard, manned by a carpenter who spends each day making customized skids and boxes for the uncommon orders, while the company purchases the standard sizes elsewhere. Likewise, Lapham-Hickey uses a mix of company-owned vehicles and common carriers to handle the larger orders. The fleet includes several closed vans for customers who want their orders protected from the elements. Company trucks also make daily runs to the branches in Minnesota and Wisconsin, allowing all them to share and effectively expand their inventories. “It’s a game of chess,” Hickey says of the mixing and matching of the different capabilities and products at each of the company’s operations. “But you’re running a portfolio of assets.” The company is constantly in search of ways to improve the performance and reduce the costs associated with those assets. The 225,000-square-foot Chicago facility, the oldest in the system, is in the early stages of a major overhaul, where cranes will be replaced, the layout changed and bays renovated. The process will take place over several years to ensure that multiple lines aren’t down at the same time. Such a slow process is OK with Hickey, for a number of reasons. For starters, as a family-owned business, the company feels less pressure for immediate returns on any investment. “I think it’s a competitive advantage. There’s not some faraway office making the decisions. I want to make sure that 10 years from now we have the right set of people, the right set of facilities, the right set of assets and the right set of capabilities in place for our markets,” he says. Furthermore, it suits one of his chief managerial qualities: patience. In a business environment where every decision needs to be made 15 minutes ago, or so it seems, Hickey has no problem pulling back on the reins and saying, “Wait.” “The cycle of business decisions has been compressed substantially in the last 10 to 15 years, which I think is a detriment to making business decisions. A lot of decisions are forced, because there’s a perception you have to reply now. I think some great decisions are made because you think about them for a day.” “He’s always been deliberate in his decisions. Our philosophy has always been that just because somebody else is doing something doesn’t mean we have to jump on the bandwagon. We methodically look at the pros and cons,” says Hobson, who along with Pilond and Executive Vice President Jeff Ford, serves with Hickey on Lapham-Hickey’s executive committee. The bigger the decision, the more voices Hickey will seek out. The company’s growth initiatives— whether opening a new location or adding a major piece of equipment such as the one-of-a-kind combination Butech Bliss/Leveltek stretch leveler the company installed in Chicago—tend to be collaborative decisions. “It’s a conversation between our management group, the salespeople, the operations people, the purchasing people,” Hickey says. “When you do a major change, you have to have more people giving you input.” While larger service center organizations have made inquiries about buying the company, Lapham-Hickey has opted to remain independent and family run. As an acquirer itself, Hickey concedes there aren’t a lot of service centers that are appropriate acquisition targets. Fortunately, buying market share is not a necessity. “We’re growing our business. We’ll continue to grow in 2013 with existing capacity and existing facilities. There’s nobody putting a gun to our heads saying we have to be twice as big. We’re big enough now to participate in the marketplace, to get competitive pricing from producer industries. All we need to be is big enough for a competitive price,” he says. Perhaps the biggest challenge to any acquisition is finding a target, not with the right products or markets, but with the right people. “The biggest problem in any industry is having good people to run your business,” Hickey says. “I look at some of the largest service center chains and wonder how they found 50 good managers. This is a very difficult business to manage properly because we’ve had so much transition in the last 10-12 years.” Yet Lapham-Hickey has been able to manage through the chaos. It’s done so by blending the traditional values established upon the company’s founding with an embrace of newer ideas and managerial techniques. Hickey recognizes the value in managing inventory levels, but won’t do so at the expense of having material to sell. He understands that the ups and downs of pricing are a fundamental reality of the service center business, but doesn’t rule out using some of the latest hedging mechanisms with customers who are determined to get a more concrete price for a longer period. Perhaps nothing better exemplifies the Lapham-Hickey approach to the business than the company’s inventory management system. The legacy system has been continually updated over the years. While short on appearance—its green screen format reveals its age—it is long on functionality, with mountains of useful data at each user’s fingertips. Employing bar codes, the system tracks each piece of metal every step of the way from order entry to loading the truck. The company has considered upgrading to newer technology, but has yet to find software that offers much better functionality than its homegrown system. One area of leadership that Hickey emphasizes is his relationships with others, both inside the building and out. It starts with treating people with respect. “That’s the duty and responsibility of a manager, to make sure everyone understands how their individual participation contributes a huge part to the success of the organization,” he says. The company’s extended family includes the relatives and friends of current employees who make personal recommendations, which Hickey considers a source of pride. “It might make things more difficult when there’s a problem, but by and large these people are committed. It’s telling when an employee says he’d like to have his family member work here. It says they believe this is a fine organization, an organization with a future.” Hickey is equally committed to building trusting, reciprocal relationships with folks up and down the supply chain. He is invested in the success of his mill suppliers and his end-user customers, and acts accordingly. “Every product that comes out of here has my name on it. My customers are going to get a quality product to make sure they keep competitive in their businesses.” His suppliers and customers have nothing but praise for the way Lapham-Hickey operates. “His organization conducts its business with the utmost professionalism, which is a reflection of Bill,” says Jim Sarwark, executive vice president with Nelsen Steel & Wire, Franklin Park, Ill. “They’re people you want to do business with because they have integrity.” “He’s a fair, balanced, honest businessman,” says Tim Hill, sales and marketing manager for Nucor Crawfordsville. The same sentiment is shared by his customers. “Anybody can sell on price. He delivers on quality,” says Reb Banas, president of Chicago’s Stanley Spring Stamping. “He’s a great guy with a great family and a great company.” Eventually, the time will come to turn that great company over to the next leader. Hickey has no formal succession plan at the moment, though he knows from history that sometimes these decisions are out of one’s control. “We have people in senior leadership who are in their mid to late ’50s. If something happened to me tomorrow, I’m sure one of them would step up and take on more responsibilities. If I retire 8-10 years from now, it may be someone who’s now in their 30s. I think we have enough quality people we’ll continue the organizational excellence we’ve had for a long time.” Tireless Champion of U.S. Manufacturing For many Americans, the first Tuesday in November represented the welcome end to the political campaigning that dominated much of the calendar year. But for Bill Hickey, the cause doesn’t end with the vote. For more than a decade, Hickey has been one of the metals distribution industry’s most prominent and effective voices, championing the need for free and fair trade, less cumbersome government regulation and a comprehensive U.S. manufacturing policy. When he wasn’t directing his own business, Hickey spent much of his free time this year speaking out on manufacturing’s behalf, primarily through the Metals Service Center Institute, Rolling Meadows, Ill. He was a regular speaker during many of MSCI’s Manufacturing Summits leading up to the 2012 election. The topic of manufacturing is an issue that interests him like few others. One of his primary activities away from the office is reading about the domestic and global economy. “There are only three ways of creating wealth – you mine, you manufacture or you grow,” Hickey says. “How we as a society don’t understand that manufacturing is a way of creating wealth is beyond my comprehension.” He has made it his mission to rectify that misunderstanding. But just as he does in business, he goes about that duty thoughtfully, intelligently and respectfully. “He is the voice of reason, conviction and order,” says Bob Weidner, CEO of MSCI, where Hickey has served as chairman. “He represents all that is good about our industry, the MSCI and our country.” Bill’s voice resonates, others say, because his knowledge of the industry is so thorough and his reputation so pristine. “When he speaks, people will sit up and listen. They know when he speaks, it’s not off the cuff, but things that he has given a lot of thought to,” says Jim Sarwark, executive vice president, Nelsen Steel & Wire, Franklin Park, Ill. “I am always amazed at Bill’s increased personal participation and grasp of both national and local politics. His ability to distill complex political issues down to something we can all understand is truly unique,” says Michael Meyers, general manager of sales for U.S. Steel’s Chicago sales office. The roots of Hickey’s involvement on the policy side stretch back more than 10 years, when a long-time customer told him it would no longer manufacture its products in the United States. The company was going to bring the product in from China at the same cost it was paying for the metal in the United States. As a student of the entire manufacturing process, not just the part of the supply chain occupied by service centers, Hickey knew such an equation didn’t add up. “I have an understanding of international costs of producing steel,” he explains. “It’s not rocket science. And that wasn’t realistic. Somebody was subsidizing the process.” He started talking to local congressional representatives, working with MSCI and taking other steps to get policymakers in D.C. to understand the issues facing manufacturers and the tilted field they were playing on. Though the setbacks have outnumbered the gains on topics such as Chinese currency manipulation, foreign subsidies and other forms of unfair trade practices, there has been some progress, enough to keep him from giving up the fight completely. “We have seen some changes. There’s certainly a much better understanding that this is a problem,” he says. “Ten years ago when you talked to a U.S. senator or congressman about currency, they looked at you like you were talking a foreign language. Now, at least they understand there’s an issue with currency valuation relative to the dollar.” Others have taken notice of his efforts. “Bill has worked tirelessly for the advancement of the industry, talking to legislators in Washington about free trade, fair trade. It’s obviously a chord that strikes deeply inside and up the ranks of Nucor,” says Tim Hill, sales and marketing manager for Nucor Crawfordsville. One supplier wouldn’t mind seeing him move from opinion giver to decision maker. “I tell him all the time he ought to run for office. He’s the kind of person we actually need making decisions in this country,” says Jim Banker, executive vice president, commercial, at NLMK, Farrell, Pa. Elite Company As the 16th recipient of MCN’s Service Center Executive of the Year Award, Bill Hickey joins an illustrious group of past honorees: • Michael Siegal, Olympic Steel, Bedford Heights, Ohio • David Hannah, Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., Los Angeles • Norm Gottschalk Jr., Marmon/Keystone Corp., Butler, Pa. • Al Glick, Alro Steel Corp., Jackson, Mich. • Sandy Nelson, Earle M. Jorgensen Co., Lynwood, Calif. • Arnold Tenenbaum, Chatham Steel Corp., Savannah, Ga. • Bud Siegel, Russel Metals Inc., Mississauga, Ont. • Dave Lerman, Steel Warehouse Co., South Bend, Ind. • Bill Jones, O’Neal Steel, Birmingham, Ala. • Don McNeeley, Chicago Tube & Iron Company, Romeoville, Ill. • Wayne Bassett, Samuel, Son & Co. Ltd., Mississauga, Ont. • Gary Stein, Triple S Steel, Houston • Mike Petersen, Petersen Aluminum Co., Elk Grove Village, Ill. • Richard Robinson, Norfolk Iron & Metal, Norfolk, Neb. • Michael Hoffman, Macsteel Service Centers USA, Newport Beach, Calif. At a Glance Lapham-Hickey Steel Corp. 5500 W. 73rd St. Chicago, IL 60638 Phone: 708-496-6111 Fax: 708-496-8504 Web site: www.lapham-hickey.com Founded: 1926 Locations: Six in Chicago and Madison, Ill., Oshkosh, Wis., Little Canada, Minn., Columbus, Ohio, Pawcatuck, Conn., and Fairfield, Ala. Employees: 650 Products: Cold-Finish Bar, Hot-Roll Bars, Hot-Roll Structurals, Hot-Roll Plate/Sheet, G&P/ TG&P, Alloys, Coil /Sheet, Spring Steel, Mechanical Tubing, Aluminum/Stainless Steel, Steel Reference Data Services: Sawing, Stretch Leveling, Coil Processing, Slitting, Shearing, Edge Conditioning, Cut-to-Length, Oscillating, Laser Cutting, Plasma/Punch Plasma, Oxy Burning, Forming, Shot Blasting, Stress Relieving, Blanchard Grinding, Heat Treating, Welding Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:18:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:9538 http://www.metalcenternews.com/Editorial/CurrentIssue/Dec2012/tabid/5937/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9536/SBQ-Market-Report.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.metalcenternews.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5937&ModuleID=14319&ArticleID=9536 http://www.metalcenternews.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=9536&PortalID=51&TabID=5937 http://www.metalcenternews.com/Editorial/CurrentIssue/Dec2012/tabid/5937/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9536/SBQ-Market-Report.aspx SBQ Slips in the Second Half The market for high-quality bar products was one of steel sector’s strongest—until the tide turned in the second half of the year. By Myra Pinkham, Contributing Editor The hot and heavy market for special bar quality products has cooled considerably in the past few months. Given the headwinds SBQ faces on both the supply and demand sides, it may struggle to gain much ground in 2013. “It has been a tale of two halves this year,” says Salvatore Miraglia, president of the steel business at The Timken Co., Canton, Ohio. While the first half was quite strong, marked by some year-long lead times and orders on allocation, the second half was much weaker, with declining prices and no indication that activity will turn around any time soon. Rising imports and increased domestic production capacity, to come on-stream in the next year or two, could boost supply ahead of demand and delay any recovery, experts agree. “Demand has been pretty ugly in the last three to four months, with a 15 to 17 percent drop-off in tons shipped from the first half of the year,” says Jeff Simons, vice president of sales and marketing for O’Neal Steel Inc., Birmingham, Ala. Offering a more positive perspective, Christopher Plummer, managing director of Metal Strategies Inc., West Chester, Pa., says current SBQ demand is not as bad as it may appear. While the market is in a correction, it remains stronger than many other steel segments. Even with the slowdown in the second half and an 18 percent increase in imports, domestic SBQ shipments are up about 20 percent for the year and could increase another 5 to 8 percent next year, he estimates. Other industry observers are less optimistic about next year, citing the political and economic uncertainties posed by the “fiscal cliff” and other tax and regulatory issues in the U.S., the debt crisis in Europe, the slowing of China and other Asian economies, and the escalating unrest in the Middle East. John Anton, director of the steel service at IHS Global Insight, Washington, D.C., does not expect a major downturn next year, but says domestic SBQ demand could decline slightly as the market marks time awaiting better news in 2014. Even 2014 is likely to be a mixed bag as the market anticipates the addition of nearly 2 million tons of new SBQ capacity to come on line by early 2015. The long lead times of 2010 and 2011 were unsustainable, says Simons at O’Neal, and the market needed to make a correction. With lead times so extended, distributors tended to over order, causing an overhang in the supply chain that contributed to the weakness in the second half. At the same time ferrous scrap prices declined steeply, with No. 1 busheling falling 35 percent and No. 1 heavy melt falling 29 percent from January to October. The result was a 25 percent decline in SBQ transactional prices due to the lower raw material surcharges, Plummer says. With prices on the decline, many buyers, including service centers, began holding off purchases. “We believe the underlying demand has softened, as well,” he adds. Sources say these market shifts have shortened SBQ mill lead times to as little as four to six weeks for more commodity grades and larger diameter bars. Even higher quality alloys and narrower diameters reportedly are available within 16 weeks. “Companies are buying to the lead times out there,” says Bill Zielinski, vice president of marketing for Chicago Tube & Iron Company, Romeoville, Ill. In terms of major SBQ end-use markets, automotive demand will continue to be strong, says Daniel McNaughton, vice president of purchasing for Eaton Steel Bar Co., Oak Park, Mich. With the average age of vehicles on the road at about 10.8 years, “many people don’t have a lot of options but to buy a new vehicle.” Demographics, with more young people looking to buy new cars, are also favorable, adds Jim Hoffman, senior vice president of operations for Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., Los Angeles. North American automotive output was up 22 percent through August. Auto production is approaching pre-recession levels of around 15 million units, despite modest sales decreases in the past few months, some attributed to the effects of Hurricane Sandy. More than 15.2 million vehicles are expected to be built in 2013, with production increases to record levels in 2017 to 2018, analysts say. Meanwhile, Plummer says production of heavy duty trucks has declined by almost 18 percent year on year, compared with a peak monthly growth rate of 72 percent in February. Most of the pent-up demand for trucks from the recession has been met, he says. Anton feels this as a short-term correction as trucking companies re-evaluate their plans, and he expects truck output to accelerate again going forward. Eaton’s McNaughton sees other factors at play in the waning demand for trucks. For one, replacement costs for trucks are prohibitive for some independent operators. “They also have been impacted by certain new regulations. There are demographic reasons, too, including older drivers retiring and fewer young people willing to become truck drivers.” Weak demand for heavy equipment exported to other parts of the world has contributed to the decline in SBQ orders. As much as 50 percent of heavy equipment produced in the United States is sold outside the country, observes Zielinski at CTI. “But it will come back some in the next few years as those countries build up their infrastructures,” he says. Domestic construction equipment shipments were up 5.8 percent through September vs. the first nine months of 2011, though they were down 1.7 percent for the month compared with September 2011, according to Metal Strategies. While demand for agricultural equipment has been strong in the past several years, Metal Strategies reports that it is down 2.6 percent year on year. Kim Leppold, senior steel analyst for Metal Bulletin Research, says that because of this past summer’s drought, farmers don’t have as much cash to invest in new equipment. In the energy sector, the number of drill rigs operating in the United States fell to 1,806 during the first week of November, down 11.6 percent from the 2,016 rigs operating a year earlier, according to Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. With the new productive drilling technologies, including the controversial hydro fracturing or “fracking” in the nation’s shale plays, U.S. natural gas inventories at the end of October hit an end-of-season record of 3.923 trillion cubic feet. That has contributed to natural gas prices remaining below the pricing level that is profitable for energy companies to drill, and subsequently has reduced demand for metal products, including SBQ. It isn’t that demand for SBQ in the energy sector is bad, says Hoffman at Reliance, offering this analogy. “When you go down the highway at 100 miles per hour and then slow to 75 miles per hour, you are still speeding.” Meanwhile, the SBQ supply situation is in flux, with some mills adding capacity and others cutting back on production to keep it more in line with demand. In response to market conditions, ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor Long Carbon reportedly has placed approximately 155 hourly employees on a 32-hour work week schedule, while ArcelorMittal Georgetown has transitioned from a three-crew operation to a two-crew operation, affecting 30 employees at the facility. On the flip side, Gerdau Special Steel North America plans to add 400,000 tons of SBQ production capacity, largely in Monroe, Mich. Nucor Corp. plans to add 800,000 tons of capacity at three of its mills. Republic Steel plans to add 150,000 tons in Lorain, Ohio. Steel Dynamics Inc. plans to add 325,000 tons of capacity in Pittsboro, Ind., and Timken plans to add 250,000 tons of capacity at three of its facilities. All total, that amounts to more than 1.9 million tons of new capacity in a 7.3 million ton annual market. The new domestic capacity is likely to reduce import penetration to about 20 percent of the market, from the current 25 percent, so it is not necessarily a net increase of 1.9 million tons, Plummer notes. SBQ supply issues have also been magnified by increased imports. Due to their long lead times, many of those imports were ordered back in the first quarter when the market was much tighter, in quantities that exceed the needs of today’s market, says Miraglia at Timken. Some of that material, especially imports directed at the energy market through the Port of Houston, was not even pre-sold, says Eaton’s McNaughton. Some mills in countries with a waning home market were willing to take the risk of exporting uncommitted product, adding to the excess that has pressured pricing. Despite the current oversupply situation, Mark Millet, SDI’s president and chief executive officer, maintains that his company’s SBQ project is still “incredibly compelling.” It will further diversify the product portfolio at the Pittsboro structural mill and give the company more exposure to the automotive, off-road vehicle and other manufacturing applications. Dan DiMicco, Nucor’s chairman and chief executive officer, says his company’s SBQ expansion plans are not so much based on current market conditions, but on what it expects in the future. “We are very confident that we’re going to see an influx of manufacturing, for a host of reasons, in sectors that are strong consumers of SBQ-type products, and in the energy area, as well.” While there may be a few quarters in which supply outstrips demand, Miraglia is confident that Timken’s investment, which is targeting the oil and gas market, will be needed in the long term, given all the planned development in the shale plays and the country’s goal of energy independence. Despite the recent softness in demand, SBQ base prices have held steady with any transaction price movement tied to raw material price surcharges, suppliers say. After many months of decline, those surcharges increased $53 per ton for Dec. 1 shipments, showing some stability as the New Year approaches. How the SBQ market fares in 2013 depends on the economic recovery in the U.S. and abroad. Many executives expect a year very similar to 2012, though with perhaps more strength in the second half than the first. The big question for 2014 is whether demand will be strong enough to absorb all the new capacity without undermining prices. Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:11:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:9536 http://www.metalcenternews.com/Editorial/CurrentIssue/Dec2012/tabid/5937/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9530/Tool-Steel-Market.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.metalcenternews.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5937&ModuleID=14319&ArticleID=9530 http://www.metalcenternews.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=9530&PortalID=51&TabID=5937 http://www.metalcenternews.com/Editorial/CurrentIssue/Dec2012/tabid/5937/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9530/Tool-Steel-Market.aspx Mid-Year Pause Slows Tool Steel’s Climb Producers and distributors of tool steels report slowing activity, though the robust and evolving auto market gives them hope for 2013. By Dan Markham, Senior Editor The tool steel industry, a barometer of manufacturing, experienced a dip earlier this year as orders began to taper off from customers unsure about the economy. Since then, the market for tool steels used by manufacturers in the production of dies, cutting tools and items for other industrial processes has remained flat, at least compared to the robust growth of the past few years. “The orders have definitely slowed up,” says David Sharwarko, chief marketing officer for Tool Steel Service, Bridgeview, Ill. “The consistency isn’t there like it was a year ago. And from everything I’ve heard from my customers and other manufacturers, it’s pretty much the same scenario for them.” “Tool and die, as a whole, usually slows up a little earlier and picks up a little sooner [than the economy]. It takes awhile to build a die, and customers are not going to buy the raw materials to build it without the orders,” says Jim Walsh, tool steel manager for Pennsylvania Steel Co., Bensalem, Pa. Activity hasn’t completely dried up, suppliers say, but it has moderated. “My people are busy, but we could be doing more,” says Ray Gamache, operations manager for Ford Tool Steels, St. Louis, Mo. Some executives believe the problem is not just a drop in real demand, but also destocking throughout the supply chain. “I think distributors are very savvy in how they’re buying,” says Art Smoljan, vice president of sales for Bohler-Uddeholm, Elgin, Ill. “They’re holding off until they see where the pricing comes through.” Sharwarko says his customers are showing the same kind of reluctance. “They’re still buying inventory, but not buying the same breadth of inventory. In the past, someone might have wanted a full bar, but now they’ll take a 3- or 4-foot random.” One factor behind this hesitancy, sources suggest, is uncertainty. The serious economic issues in Europe and elsewhere around the globe, as well as the looming “fiscal cliff” here at home, are making buyers cautious. “We’re seeing a leveling of the industry,” says Bohler-Uddeholm’s Marketing Manager Patricia Miller, especially in foreign markets where the company has several mills. “But we’re not seeing as much softening here as they are overseas.” Whether the recent election will resolve some of the uncertainty and revive sluggish industrial markets remains to be seen. Some are skeptical that it will have much near-term effect on business conditions. “One of my customers said he was waiting until after the election. I don’t believe all that,” Sharwarko says. “You still have to process your business. You still have to keep operating.” Looking ahead to next year, most sources expect flat to slightly improved demand for tool steel products. “Right now, for the markets we serve, we are very optimistic we’ll have stable to slight growth in 2013. We hope certainty comes back into the market, and with certainty we’re anticipating better results,” says Smoljan. “Our view of the tool steel industry as we move into 2013 is to expect it to look a lot like 2012,” says Chris Zimmer, Universal Stainless, Bridgeville, Pa. “We’re not expecting a pop or a tremendous amount of growth. At the same time, we’re not preparing for a downturn next year, either.” One reason for that tempered optimism is the automotive market, a major user of tool steel. North American carmakers are on track for double-digit growth in production this year and are expecting similar increases in 2013. That increased volume is not the only good news. New government fuel-efficiency standards are going to force the auto companies to significantly lighten their vehicles over the next decade. That will require them to change the materials they use in vehicle designs, notably toward more aluminum and high-strength steels, which will correspond to a significant change in tooling requirements. “In the tooling world, the tools are consumable, so the number of vehicles being produced is very interesting. But what’s more interesting is the model changeovers,” says Zimmer. “With the many advances in the auto industry, whether it’s the aesthetics or the technologies of the car, we’ve seen a lot of model changeovers that require a whole new tooling set.” Miller says her company already has seen major changes in automotive materials, which started in Europe and are making their way stateside. “In die casting, we’re seeing a lot more focus on structural aluminum components for automobiles. You have to have steels capable of withstanding higher temperatures,” she says. Other characteristics of the next generation of tool steels include better press-hardening, improved heat transfer and better chip resistance. Additionally, the tool steel used to cut the aluminum or advanced high-strength steels must be much stronger than previous generations. “The strength level of some of those materials will almost be the same level as the tooling materials themselves,” she says. Tooling used to form plastics can be improved, as well, such as with greater corrosion resistance. “It’s a good opportunity, especially if there’s a little bit of a slowdown, for us to start to characterize what is needed in these areas,” Miller adds. Besides the flattening in overall demand, the North American tool steel industry has seen a major upheaval on the supply side of the equation. The number of foreign offerings in the domestic marketplace is up considerably in 2012, executives report. “I’m getting e-mail after e-mail and phone call after phone call from foreign mills that want to sell into the United States,” Sharwarko says. “That may be an indicator that it’s even slower over there.” Gamache says his company prefers to work with domestic suppliers due to quality concerns about product from overseas. While there are no major issues with the supply from more established tool steel producers such as Germany, products from South America, Eastern Europe or China are not as dependable. “We’ve never wanted to risk it. They make some fabulous offers, but it makes you wonder how you they do it,” he adds. John Packard, president and CEO of BTS-Patriot Inc., Dover, N.H., notes that some materials can only be sourced overseas. “There are some good mills over there, if you deal with the right ones. We prefer not to buy over there, but if they’re the only ones making it, we’re buying it.” Universal Stainless intended to use some of the assets in its 2011 acquisition of Patriot Special Metals in North Jackson, Ohio, to produce tool steel rounds, filling a niche in the North American market. But that plan has been scuttled. Since its announcement, the pricing for tool steel rounds has plummeted, Zimmer says, due to an influx of Chinese imports. “We knew it wasn’t going to be one of the richest markets from a margin standpoint, but we felt it was an opportunity to grow our business. We did a lot of developmental work to position ourselves to serve the market, but it has deteriorated to the point where it no longer makes sense to chase that business,” he says. Not all market disruptions have foreign origins. The supply chain is still sorting out how the 2012 acquisition of Latrobe Specialty Metals by Carpenter Technology Corp. will affect the supply-demand dynamic of the market. (Carpenter management did not respond to MCN’s requests for comment.) “I’m leery. For years, Carpenter has run hot and cold on tool steel. Every four or five years they’d be out pushing tool steels really hard, then take a back seat again,” Gamache says. Sources speculate that some products may be lost as a result of the acquisition. “Carpenter bought Latrobe for its melting capacity and high-temperature alloys. A lot of what Latrobe used to supply, as far as grades of tool steel, Carpenter may not melt anymore,” says Packard. His company experienced its own merger in late 2011 with the combination of Burgon Tool Steel and Patriot to form BTS-Patriot Inc. An example of a material that may disappear from the marketplace is Viscount 44, a pre-hardened tool steel alloy produced by Latrobe. Gamache says Latrobe was the only mill capable of making the exact material, which has sulfides for improved machinability. Other producers have comparable offerings, but they’re not the same product, he says. “That will be a dead grade,” he predicts, “and it’s big in the die cast industry.” The acquisition leaves the service center market with additional uncertainty, as Carpenter is still looking to unload Latrobe’s distribution business. “We buy a lot from Latrobe. They have a great product, and we never have any quality issues. They’re a great supplier for a lot of people around the country, and I’d hate to see that apple cart get upset,” Gamache adds. Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:48:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:9530 http://www.metalcenternews.com/Editorial/CurrentIssue/Dec2012/tabid/5937/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9529/Fabricators-to-Spend-Big-in-2013.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.metalcenternews.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5937&ModuleID=14319&ArticleID=9529 http://www.metalcenternews.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=9529&PortalID=51&TabID=5937 http://www.metalcenternews.com/Editorial/CurrentIssue/Dec2012/tabid/5937/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9529/Fabricators-to-Spend-Big-in-2013.aspx Fabricators to Spend Big in 2013 In its annual cap ex survey, the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association reports that the nation’s fabricators spent about 4 percent more on metal processing equipment in 2012 and will spend even more next year. Editor's note: The following article by FMA Senior Editor Tim Heston is excerpted from the November 2012 issue of The Fabricator. To purchase the complete 2013 Capital Spending Forecast, visit www.fmanet.org/store or call 888-394-4362. Despite the lingering economic uncertainties following last month’s election, fabricators are opening their wallets for capital equipment. According to the 2013 Capital Spending Forecast, published by the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International, Rockford, Ill., U.S. metal fabricators—one of the service center industry’s largest markets—spent an estimated $2.2 billion on new metal processing equipment in 2012, about 4 percent more than last year. The total, extrapolated from a statistical sample of U.S. fabricators, is just shy of pre-recession levels. Capital spending levels among this large customer group should give service centers a sense of how much fabricators are likely to spend next year on raw materials to employ this new equipment. Logic would suggest that the larger their equipment investment, the more metal they anticipate processing. It also gives service centers an opportunity to compare their own capital spending plans to other processors in the supply chain. Which plants are growing? Small companies have always made up a significant part of this business. Although individual company spending is small relative to larger players, taken together, fabricators with fewer than 50 employees account for a quarter of all equipment spending nationwide. And spending at the smallest companies continues to trend upward. Companies with 1 to 19 employees predict 2013 spending will top their 2010 forecast by more than 200 percent. (Those projections were understandably low, considering they were made in 2009, which for many was the trough of the recession.) Not every fabricator is spending so aggressively. The largest fabricators in the survey, with 1,000 employees or more, decreased spending predictions by 7 percent, on average. For the first time since the survey has tracked these numbers, predicted spending by companies with 500 to 999 employees shot past their larger cousins. In this category, predicted spending has more than doubled from last year and more than tripled since the recession. Fabricators with 250 to 499 employees also increased their projected spending significantly, 34 percent over last year (see Figure 1). All this may reflect a trend of consolidation, at least in some local markets. During the recession and the ensuing recovery, stronger fabricators took market share away from weaker players. Customers began to concentrate their business with fewer suppliers. This trend of more work being sent to fewer companies may help explain current spending trends in capital equipment. Companies with 500 to 999 employees not only have the highest spending projections, but they’re also operating at the highest capacity utilization levels. The geography of spending Not only has spending increased substantially at these larger (but not the largest) plants, but the money spent has also become more concentrated. The Midwest always has been a metal fabrication center, and it’s becoming even more so. Rounding out the top five states are Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Texas—no surprises there. What is somewhat surprising is just how much equipment spending is expected to occur in these states. Metal fabrication plants in these top five states make up 48.4 percent of total projected spending for the entire country. That’s a higher geographic concentration of spending than projected in any FMA capital spending survey in the past seven years. Still, while equipment spending in pure dollar terms has become more geographically concentrated, actual metal fabrication plants have become less concentrated. In 2007, a little less than 40 percent of all metal fabrication plants in the survey were in just five states. Today that number has decreased to 34.8 percent (see Figure 2). All this may imply several significant shifts in the industry landscape. First, when it comes to capital spending—both in terms of dollars spent and number of metal fabrication plants—Michigan is ruling the roost, perhaps a testament to the automotive industry’s resurgence. Second, operations that are spending the most are concentrated in fewer states. After the recession, stronger players have grown in these markets, while the weaker players have fallen away. Today a local market may have fewer metal fabrication plants, but collectively they’re spending more. Consider Michigan again. The state has only 7.8 percent of all metal fabrication plants in the study, but they account for almost 15 percent of all dollars spent on capital equipment nationwide. Third, capital spending growth is concentrated at small companies and at larger operations—but not at the largest operations. This may hint at an outsourcing trend, with large OEMs outsourcing more metal fabrication work to reliable, top-performing contract fabricators (including some service centers). Larger top performers may have the scale and capacity to satisfy demand, while the smallest top performers can quickly turn around low volumes of specialized work. What are fabricators buying? As always, welding power sources top the list, but what comes after that gets intriguing. Fabricators expect to spend more than $224 million on laser cutting systems, the largest amount in six years. So is the amount for turret punch press spending, up almost 25 percent over last year’s forecast. Plasma cutting machine spending is projected to be more than 40 percent higher than last year, and projected waterjet machine spending is up nearly 20 percent. Of all spending on primary cutting equipment, only oxyfuel cutting is down from last year (see Figure 3). Overall spending projections increased only 4 percent over last year, so massive gains in some product categories were offset by declines in others. Most significant is that after falling by almost 50 percent during the recession, total projected spending by the nation’s fabricators has bounced back almost to its pre-recession high. Methodology For this survey, a random sample of 24,122 FMA Communications subscribers were sent questionnaires this fall, and a total of 1,451 completed surveys were received. Questionnaires were sent with a unique URL that was used to match demographic information with each respondent. FMA Communications used an algorithm to turn the raw data into projections. Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:42:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:9529 http://www.metalcenternews.com/Editorial/CurrentIssue/Dec2012/tabid/5937/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9528/Third-Quarter-Report-Outlook-Service-Centers.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.metalcenternews.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5937&ModuleID=14319&ArticleID=9528 http://www.metalcenternews.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=9528&PortalID=51&TabID=5937 http://www.metalcenternews.com/Editorial/CurrentIssue/Dec2012/tabid/5937/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9528/Third-Quarter-Report-Outlook-Service-Centers.aspx Demand Sputtering as Year Winds Down Service centers earnings pressured by tough third-quarter business conditions. A.M. Castle & Co. Castle Reports Profitable Third Quarter A.M. Castle & Co., Oak Brook, Ill., returned to profitability in the third quarter, posting net income of $3.2 million during the three months ended Sept. 30. The distributor of specialty metals and plastics had reported a net loss of $3.0 million the previous quarter. Net earnings were off 7.8 percent from third-quarter 2011. Castle’s net sales during the quarter totaled $304.0 million, an increase of 3.0 percent from the same period in 2011, but down 7.7 percent from the previous quarter. “We made progress toward our goal to improve operating margins,” said Scott Stephens, vice president-finance and chief financial officer, who also served as interim CEO during the third quarter. “Through strong gross material margin execution and effective cost management, we achieved the third-quarter profit levels that we had anticipated, despite external headwinds, including declining scrap and commodity prices and continued uncertain customer demand.” In the company’s Metals segment, third-quarter net sales of $272.4 million were 3.0 percent higher than last year, primarily due to the acquisition of Tube Supply in December 2011, which contributed net sales of $39.9 million. Metals segment tons sold per day, excluding Tube Supply, declined 9.2 percent in the third quarter versus third-quarter 2011. “Most key end-use markets experienced softer demand, as customers adjusted their inventory levels due to a more cautious outlook,” Stephens said. However, volumes increased by 8.5 percent from July to September, suggesting a strengthening in the markets. “We remain cautious heading into the fourth quarter, which has historically been seasonally slower for the company. Nevertheless, we expect daily sales in the fourth quarter of 2012 to be comparable to third-quarter levels and expect gross material margins in the fourth quarter of approximately 27 percent,” Stephens said. “We continue to be optimistic about our global growth opportunities in our targeted end markets, and we are committed to expanding our business as we focus on cost management and improved operating efficiency for the balance of 2012 and into 2013.” Just prior to quarter’s end, A.M. Castle’s board of directors hired Scott J. Dolan to serve as the company’s president and CEO. "Scott Dolan possesses the qualities we sought in a CEO to execute A.M. Castle's strategy, engage our employees and deliver improved results for shareholders," said Brian P. Anderson, chairman of the board. Dolan, who most recently worked as a vice president for the combined United and Continental Airlines, said he is in the process of reviewing the entire company from top to bottom. “I plan to evaluate all aspects of the business over my first 90 days, and act very quickly to implement process improvements, organizational changes and an overall execution culture that will enable us to drive performance,” he said. Also during the quarter, Castle’s board dealt with reports of a possible takeover from the Platinum Equity group, a minority shareholder. Castle’s board determined to rebuff any attempts from the private group. “We evaluated Platinum’s stated intentions and the strategic alternatives available to our company. Based on this assessment, the board determined it is in the best interest of Castle and its shareholders to pursue Castle’s business plan as a standalone entity,” said Anderson. Olympic Steel Olympic Sales, Profits Decline Net sales and income dipped for Olympic Steel during the company’s third quarter. The Cleveland-based service center company reported net sales of $342.6 million, down 1.7 percent from the same period in 2011 and 6.7 percent from the previous quarter. Net income during the third quarter totaled $1.6 million, down from the $6.1 million reported in the year-ago quarter and the $4.5 million in the previous quarter. For the year to date, Olympic’s net sales increased 15.9 percent to $1.1 billion, in large part due to the July 2011 acquisition of Chicago Tube & Iron Company. Net income for the first nine months declined almost 50 percent to $12.4 million. “Margin pressure persisted during the third quarter and nine-month period, reflecting lower steel pricing versus the prior year's comparable periods. In addition, higher operating expenses—primarily associated with ongoing expansion projects—were incurred during the current year,” said Chairman and CEO Michael D. Siegal during the company’s quarterly conference call with investors and analysts. Third-quarter and nine-month tonnage volumes improved for the company’s flat-rolled, tubular and pipe products, partially offsetting the lower margins. Volume in the flat-rolled segment increased more than 5 percent during the third quarter to 280,000 tons. Volume increased 3 percent to 894,000 tons sold for the first nine months of 2012. As a percentage of net sales, consolidated gross margin contracted slightly during the third quarter to 19.3 percent versus 19.5 percent in the second quarter of this year and 19.4 percent in the third quarter last year. “While our shipments improved in the third quarter and we gained market share, the supply side pressures continue, resulting in declining steel prices and lower margins, especially in the carbon and stainless flat-roll areas. The fourth quarter will be impacted by the expected year-end seasonal weakness, fewer shipped days and potential disruptions associated with Hurricane Sandy,” said President and Chief Operating Officer David Wolfort. Olympic reported improvements in its inventory turns during the third quarter to 4.3 times, compared to 4.0 times at the end of the second quarter. “We still have some room to improve, as we're targeting a return to our historical turnover rate of closer to five times. We did reduce our inventory in the third quarter of 2012 by almost $24 million,” Chief Financial Officer Richard Morabito said. Total capital spending in 2012 is anticipated to be approximately $25 million for the full year. In 2013, Olympic’s capital expenditures are expected to decrease below depreciation expense, which is at an annual run rate of approximately $20 million. Olympic’s biggest expense over the past year-plus is the new temper mill in Gary. Olympic officials say the ramp-up there is going much faster than with its other two temper mills. The mill is operating at about 65 percent of its capacity after running its first product in December. Russel Metals Russel’s Earnings Dip Despite Higher Revenues Russel Metals Inc., Mississauga, Ont., reported earnings of $23 million during the company’s third quarter, an 11 percent decline from the same period in 2011. For the year to date, Russel’s net earnings totaled $78 million, 13.3 percent behind last year. Net sales in the third quarter totaled $713 million, 1.1 percent better than last year’s third quarter. For the first three quarters, Russel’s revenues totaled 2.2 billion, 12.7 percent more than the same period last year. "All of our segments experienced margin pressure in the third quarter as steel prices declined due to lack of demand. The energy segment was able to produce stronger operating results due to higher volumes. However, our other segments were impacted by industry-wide lower shipments. We continue to outpace industry shipments in our metals service center operations," said Brian R. Hedges, president and CEO. Revenues in the company’s metals service center segment decreased 2 percent to $382 million in the third quarter, compared to the 2011 third quarter, on decreased demand and pricing that was down 4 percent compared to 2011. Gross margins in this segment were 20.1 percent, slightly lower than the 20.6 percent in third-quarter 2011. Revenues in the energy tubular products segment increased 12 percent to $249 million due to increased shipments of large-diameter line pipe in Russel’s U.S. operations and strong demand in operations servicing the Alberta oil sands. Segment gross margins declined to 13.4 percent, compared to 14.3 percent in the 2011 third quarter, due to pricing pressure and lower margins on the higher volume line pipe orders. Strong activity in these operations resulted in operating profits increasing by 5 percent to $16 million for the quarter. Revenues in the steel distributors segment decreased 12 percent in the third quarter to $78 million. Gross margins in this segment were down 1.5 percentage points to 13.0 percent. During the quarter, Russel made a significant acquisition, adding Edmonton, Alberta-based oilfield supplier Apex Distribution to its energy segment. Apex had $500 million in revenue in 2011, with 58 branches in Canada and the United States. The company is continuing to look elsewhere in the energy segment, though nothing to match the size of the Apex acquisition. “During our due diligence process, Apex made us aware of a couple of opportunities we may want to consider in the next year related to their specific area. There is a chance for us to do additional acquisitions,” said Chief Financial Officer Marion Britton. The company has also seen increasing opportunities in the service center segment, though most of the deals involve smaller companies than Russel is targeting. Looking ahead, Russel officials said current demand for its products is lower than in the third quarter and what the company experienced in the fourth quarter of 2011 for both metal service centers and steel distributors. Unlike some other public companies, Russel wasn’t overly enthusiastic about prospects for early 2013. “We don’t see a reason for what is going on right now to rebound. You typically see a bit of seasonal uptick in the first quarter, but we don’t see anything to drive it,” Britton said. Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:36:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:9528