Caution: bumps AHEAD--Amid challenging market conditions, U.S. service centers find ways to survive

摘要

It's not a market that anyone wants to bet the house on, but U.S. metal distributors are familiar with tough business conditions. This familiarity is causing industry analysts to predict that well-run service centers will come out on top in the long run. Jim Forbes, global metals leader at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, says the current U.S. metals distribution industry is fairly healthy, despite the rising price of steel. "We're still on an up trend and just hitting the peak," he notes. "There's limited steel inventory around; therefore, I think the distribution centers tend to be significantly in demand. For the foreseeable future, they're doing quite well."