From The Editor

Once again, Metal Center News is inviting readers to participate in the annual Top Brands Survey. The survey is designed to measure those brands that are top of mind among service center operators.

The juxtaposition was jarring. In early February, in Northeastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania border, a Norfolk Southern train carrying chemicals and combustible materials, vinyl chloride most notable among them, derailed.

One of the highlights of last week’s FMA Annual Meeting was the presentation of the Association of Steel Distributors’ Steel Executive of the Year Award. The ASD has been part of the broader FMA for the past half decade.

Flack Global Metals has been promoting the value of financial risk management tools such as hedging since its founding a dozen years earlier. The company took another step Monday to demonstrate its faith in those practices.

The “R” word is getting thrown around quite a bit these days, from all corners of the economy-watching globe.

The numbers are in, and production of crude steel in the United States, and the world, declined in 2022. The report from the Brussels-based World Steel Association showed global steel production totaled 1.88 million metric tons last year, the lowest figure in four years.

The Fabricators and Manufacturers International is putting the finishing touches on the FMA Annual Meeting, scheduled this year for Feb. 28 to March 2 in Las Vegas.

Ever since Joe Biden succeeded Donald Trump in January 2021, the new president has been unraveling many of the policies implemented by the previous administration. This is nothing new.

Red metals industry participants should be advising our federal leaders to look north for inspiration.

With this issue, we bring to close another year covering the metals distribution industry. We hope it was a profitable one for all of you, with even better results in the year to come.