Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Hamond Lead Times for August 2005 and Hamond Shutdown
I seem to have missed a step here. I forgot to announce that we would be shutting down for our normal summer vacation this year. We sent out email, we sent out faxes, we just forgot to announce it here. Oops.
We will be back from our shutdown on Monday August 8th. Shipping/Receiving will be open as of 8:30 AM.
Steel lead times continue to be relatively short, and all sorts of material is surprisingly easy to get. Prices are somewhat lower - technically, the surcharges are lower and the base metal prices haven't moved much yet. But everyone is expecting both base metal prices and surcharges to drop soon.
Much of this depends critically on the type of steel you use. Low carbon steel has shown the best price improvements, clad steel (galvanized, aluminized) hasn't improved much, 1050 (high carbon or spring steel) hasn't improved much either, and stainless steel is actually still rising, because the cost of nickel is rising.
Copper is more expensive than it has been in years. That means Brass and Beryllium Copper (both copper alloys) are expensive too. So far I've had no shortage problems, but that could change (and has in the past when prices got this high - hording starts to kick in).
I have more free machine time on both large and small machines than I usually do, so I can set up and run parts pretty much when the material comes in.
Post-processors are also processing our work fairly quickly and getting parts back to us quickly.
What this means to my customers is that I can actually promise 2-3 week lead time on most parts that need no post-processing. Add another week if they need heat treating or plating.
Parts in stock in support of an existing blanket purchase order can, as always, be shipped with only minimal delays.
Our design department is relatively free now to start new designs.
As always, you can consult our salesman John for more detailed information. Call him at 416-998-0212
We will be back from our shutdown on Monday August 8th. Shipping/Receiving will be open as of 8:30 AM.
Steel lead times continue to be relatively short, and all sorts of material is surprisingly easy to get. Prices are somewhat lower - technically, the surcharges are lower and the base metal prices haven't moved much yet. But everyone is expecting both base metal prices and surcharges to drop soon.
Much of this depends critically on the type of steel you use. Low carbon steel has shown the best price improvements, clad steel (galvanized, aluminized) hasn't improved much, 1050 (high carbon or spring steel) hasn't improved much either, and stainless steel is actually still rising, because the cost of nickel is rising.
Copper is more expensive than it has been in years. That means Brass and Beryllium Copper (both copper alloys) are expensive too. So far I've had no shortage problems, but that could change (and has in the past when prices got this high - hording starts to kick in).
I have more free machine time on both large and small machines than I usually do, so I can set up and run parts pretty much when the material comes in.
Post-processors are also processing our work fairly quickly and getting parts back to us quickly.
What this means to my customers is that I can actually promise 2-3 week lead time on most parts that need no post-processing. Add another week if they need heat treating or plating.
Parts in stock in support of an existing blanket purchase order can, as always, be shipped with only minimal delays.
Our design department is relatively free now to start new designs.
As always, you can consult our salesman John for more detailed information. Call him at 416-998-0212
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Hamond Industries Ltd - the Slide Forming Specialists
