Buying from an established, well-informed steel distributor can be beneficial, the company says. In 2016, galvanized prices will increase approximately 80 percent from 2015 levels and timing purchases can be critical, company President Joe Landry said. 

“Second City Metals is more of a steel consultant than just a buyer and seller of steel," he said. "We ask the correct questions and listen intently as our customers talk about current and future business conditions and purchase steel accordingly.” 

Second City Metals purchases steel based on this information and reads about the steel market on a daily basis.  Sounds simple but it’s not, Landry said. 

“2016 has been a challenging year to purchase Galvanized steel as prices increased quickly and availability was tight earlier in the year.”   

Second City said it is the only steel distributor who provides all metal manufactured on a spiral sheet metal works tube former. In 2000 there wasn’t a steel distributer who was fully dedicated to spiral HVAC market ductwork fabrication manufacturers in particular and the HVAC construction industry in general, so Landry said Second City capitalized on the void. 

In 2004 Second City Metals added 60-inch galvanized coil. This enabled HVAC market and sheet metal products customers to purchase their spiral and rectangular coil needs from Second City Metals.

All of the steel sold by Second City Metals is used in the HVAC construction industry, the company says. Besides selling galvanized coil, Second City Metals sells polyvinyl-coated steel for underground duct and perforated coil for double-wall ductwork fabrication. These products, along with stainless, aluminum, aluminized and galvannealed/paint grip are not used often in the HVAC construction industry, but are needed quickly if a sheet metal products shop has a job calling for this type of ductwork. 

“Good quality and quick delivery are expected in this industry, which makes pricing critical.  We have a core group of customers that we’ve been taking care of for a long time so even with the steel market being chaotic we make sure to take care of our customers, many of whom have been doing business with us for the past 15 years.”