What Are You Looking For In A Steel Distributor?

Posted on: 25 April 2022

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When you work in construction, your income is reliant on the costs of supplies and equipment, along with your overhead and other costs. You want to stay competitive in your field, but larger projects require larger investments from your clients, and you want to make your bids as pleasing as possible while still coming out with a profit. What do you do then? You make sure you have the right connections with your distributors, from your window glass to your steel. This way, you get your supplies for construction at the lowest possible cost to you so you can forward much of these savings to your clients in the form of lower and more competitively impressive bids. In construction, steel is one of your main building components for both commercial and residential builds. Here are things you should look for in a steel distributor.

Rollover pricing structure

Steel, like all assets, goes up and down in value and is ever-changing in its worth. This is based on supply and demand for the most part, as well as trends in real estate. You want a steel distributor who can sell you bulk steel at rollover prices, meaning you get to buy your steel from them at a price that is reflective of when they purchased the steel. When steel is acquired at a cheaper price, it can then be sold to contractors and retailers at a cheaper price. Choose a steel distributor who is transparent about steel costs and will sell you steel at the reflective prices of when it was first purchased by them, even if it means buying steel in different price ranges over time. This allows both you and the distributor to take advantage of the economical ebbs and flows of steel popularity and price.

Reliability of inventory

When you need steel for a project, you don't want to have to wait for a steel distributor to acquire what you need and then forward it to you. You want to have immediate access to the supplies you need to start projects and get them completed fast. Your steel distributor should be able to supply you with the amount of steel you need and be reliable enough to give you a notification when they are running low on your normal supplies if you are a recurring buyer.

A steel distributor likely has many clients so they will work hard to meet the needs of everyone. Interview a steel supplier and inquire about delivery and other fees before deciding to work with them for your construction business.