Tips for Getting a Great Price on Your Steel

Steel plays a big role in many different industries, and in several different parts of our daily lives. If you are planning to build something, chances are you could use steel to build it. Steel provides a great option for every building project because it offers lightweight durability, and is often one of the most affordable options you can find with such a high strength-to-weight ratio. There are several different options for purchasing steel, with options from brand new to used. Here are some tips to help you shop for the right steel and get a great price.

Brand New Steel
New steel is produced in steel mills, but buying direct from the mill is often not an option for most consumers. In order to get it from the mill, you usually have to commit to large purchase quantities (sometimes several thousand tons a year), which may not be feasible for smaller companies, or someone who just needs some steel for a project around the house. There are times when new steel is required, especially in cases where the look or sterility of the metal is important, such as food production or medicine. A place like Wasatch Steel often has surplus inventory from the steel mills, including mill overruns and obsolete inventory that is available at a lower price, so you can still get brand new steel but without the huge purchase commitment.

Excess Prime Steel
Another option, when the look of the steel is not as important, is to purchase excess prime steel. Wasatch Steel can often find shipments of excess prime that may have some signs of oxidation after being exposed to the elements, so it may not look as good as brand new steel. The benefit of this kind of steel is that you can often get like-new steel in terms of the quality at a much lower price.

Secondary Steel
If you are looking for a great deal at the steel supermarket, you can also find recycled steel or secondary steel. This kind of steel is often available with very low pricing, and Wasatch Steel offers a very wide selection so you can find just about any kind that you might need. With so much secondary steel available at the steel yard, you can get the items you need immediately and take it with you so you don’t have to wait for a shipment. Plus Wasatch Steel has several decades of industry experience purchasing steel from several different suppliers nationwide, so they know how to choose only the highest quality secondary steel to offer to customers.

Buying in Bulk
You can also buy in bulk to get better prices, and have the experts at Wasatch Steel cut it to your exact specifications so your steel arrives ready to use and you can cut down waste.

No-Hassle Shopping
Another way to save money when you’re buying steel is to go somewhere that you can buy everything you need in one stop. If you have to go all around town to find several different pieces for your project, you can spend a lot of extra time, and more money on gas. By finding everything in one place at the steel supermarket, you can save a lot of both. You can even find all the tools and accessories you need at Wasatch Steel, so you get everything with one stop.

Tips for Choosing Quality Steel Suppliers

Steel is one of the most common building materials used in the world today—providing the backbone for everything from landscaping design to tall skyscrapers. If you have never purchased it before, but you need to find a place where you can buy steel, here are some tips for finding good steel suppliers in Utah.

Find Exactly What You Need
With so many different applications for steel, it comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, from small ornamental iron pieces that you can use on fences or railings, all the way to massive steel I-beams that are used to build skyscrapers. The key to a good steel supplier is finding one that offers everything you need all in one place—from structural steel, hot rolled steel, piping and tubing, to fencing, roofing and building supplies, and even accessories and tools.

Inspect for Quality
Even though you’re not buying direct from the steel manufacturing plants, you still want high quality. Whether you need brand new steel, or you are planning to buy used or excess prime steel, inspect the products that are available to ensure high quality. Ask about where the steel supplier gets their steel and what quality management or testing it goes through before it hits their shelves.

Comparison Shop for Great Prices
Steel has a fairly standard industry price, but there are some ways that a supplier like Wasatch Steel can offer you a lower price. For example, Wasatch Steel purchases excess prime steel, which is just like new steel but has been exposed to water or other elements that cause some slight oxidation on the surface so it doesn’t look brand new anymore. The quality is still there, but the price is competitive. Be cautious about prices that are so low they seem too good to be true—if that is the case, it’s probably because the product is substandard quality.

Customer Service Matters
Whenever you buy anything, including steel, you want to be able to find the products you need, be treated with respect, and get great service from the supplier. At a place like Wasatch Steel, you can find everything you need for any size steel project, with all shapes and sizes, and everything clearly marked on the shelves; that’s why it’s called Utah’s steel supermarket. Plus everyone in the shop is ready to help, whether you need help finding a specific item, you need something processed and prepared for fabrication (laser or plasma cutting, punching, or bending), or you need help with delivery. As an added bonus, Wasatch Steel can even process the items right after you buy them while you wait, so you won’t have to come to the shop once to buy everything, then come back again later after it’s been processed.

Get it Delivered
The final criteria for a steel supplier is to find one that can deliver the products you need. If you have a large commercial or industrial order that you need delivered to a job site, a place like Wasatch Steel can deliver it externally, or have it ready for pickup whenever you schedule it.

Finding quality steel suppliers in Utah can help you do your job better, or just help you find the items you need for do-it-yourself projects around the house. Check out the steel supermarket at Wasatch Steel to find out how easy buying steel can be.

Steel & Our Modern World

Steel is so engrained in our everyday lives today that we probably don’t ever really stop to think about what kind of world we would live in if we didn’t have it. Steel forms a kind of modern “backbone” for the world today, offering us the ability to do everything from build skyscrapers that are hundreds of stories high to transport goods by rail and road, and even eat prepared foods from clean, sterile surfaces. Without it, we would have a much different world today.

The History of Steel
Metal has been around in many forms for hundreds, even thousands of years—in fact, the first known iron in history was used in the Egyptian pyramids more than 5 centuries ago. Prior to the 1800s, though, it was mainly in the form of wrought iron or cast iron. These two metals, while very strong, were also extremely heavy and impractical for many uses where we implement steel today. In addition, the processes used to make iron back then would be astronomically expensive today.

After thousands of years of using metal forged from blacksmith shops, the mid-1800s brought a new method, introduced by Henry Bessemer of England and William Kelly of Kentucky (while they came up with the idea independent of one another, they began working together about 10 years later in the 1860s). By blowing air through iron, they could refine it and the ability to produce large volumes of steel relatively cheaply revolutionized the modern world.

Building with Steel

Through the late 1800s the demand for steel increased with the building of the transcontinental railway. This new method allowed the railroad companies to get steel at almost one-third the price they had previously paid, and they could get 3 times the volume in the same amount of time. A few decades later, the availability of this cheap, lightweight, strong metal fueled the growth of the automobile industry, when Henry Ford dreamed of making cars that were available and affordable enough for every man to own. It has allowed other visionaries to push the envelope on development, design, and inventions ever since.

Steel for Everyone

While steel is a favorite material for large construction projects, automobile, and bridges, it is also a great option for any kind of smaller or do-it-yourself project. The trouble is that it can be difficult to buy in smaller quantities. In fact, many steel mills require that your minimum order is several thousand tons just to get in the door. For the weekend warrior builder, or someone just looking for unique pieces of steel that will be used in an art project, this kind of requirement doesn’t work.

At Wasatch Steel, we know that buying in bulk isn’t for everyone. That is why we offer the ability to find just about every kind of steel you can image, all in one place, clearly labeled just like a supermarket. You can pick and choose your pieces, order in large or small quantities, and get exactly what you need to finish up that item that has been on your “to do” list for quite a while now.

Because Wasatch Steel offers new, used, and excess prime steel pieces (like-new steel that has been exposed to the elements or shows other signs of wear), you can find just what you need at a price point that will make your wallet happy. Don’t miss out on all the benefits that steel has to offer in this modern world—check out the steel supermarket today to start buying steel.