Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I earned an MBA from Carnegie Mellon in 1991.  Since then, I’ve worked in Transportation, Management Consulting, Flat-Rolled Steel, Steel Pipe, and Copper, before stepping out on my own as an independent consultant.  I’ve worked on the mill floor, in strategic planning, supply chain, and purchasing. In Copper, I was responsible for procuring raw materials, which totaled 50,000 tpy of scrap metal.

Q2. How is demand for traceable, high-quality scrap metals evolving in the U.S., and what role do standards like ASTM and digital tracking play in pricing and quality assurance? 

In Copper and Carbon Steel, traceability is very limited.  Inspection, testing, and analytical chemistry take precedence.  Practices may vary for other industries and metals.  

ASTM standards come into play for laboratory testing of sampled scrap metal.  There is an ASTM guideline, but no standard for using handheld XRFs for Copper and Copper alloy scrap.  

There is also an ASTM guideline, but not a standard, for sampling granular copper wire scrap.

Some high-quality copper wire granulators have an in-house lab and provide certified chemistries for a premium price.  This level of quality assurance may become more common or more necessary as the population of source wire becomes polluted with Fire Refined material.

Q3. Which segments of the long and flat steel product supply chain are showing capacity constraints?

Tin Mill products, now that US-Posco and Weirton have disappeared.

Q4. How are steel and copper mills balancing cost pressures with decarbonization targets, especially around Scope 3 emissions tracking and scrap reuse strategies?

We never had decarbonization or other ESG targets other than practices that improved profitability anyway.  We always strove to eliminate delays and maximize throughput on our operating equipment.  Operating improvements naturally reduced energy consumption, especially in areas involving furnaces.  

We always reused as much of our home scrap as possible, and we monetized our byproducts whenever there was an improvement over landfill expenses.  We would have done this regardless of whether we had ESG targets.  But our conventional activities were not of interest to our customers who sent us Green questionnaires.

Q5. How are mid-sized mills and service centers adapting to rising demand? Can you give some examples?

I can’t speak to service centers, but the Brass Mill and Copper industries are either consolidating (Wieland, Prysmian), adding equipment (Wieland again, Revere, Ames, SDI, Encore), or onshoring (Tecnofil, Hailiang).

Q6. What are the biggest cost drivers in meeting Scope 3 targets?

Motivation to reduce emissions is driven by the desire to lower the energy cost per unit produced. That would be the costs of electricity and natural gas (and probably also labor), as well as the costs wasted due to production delays and suboptimal run rates.

Q7. If you were an investor looking at companies within the space, what critical question would you pose to their senior management?

• Why is the company for sale?
• What should we do to make the company more valuable than your asking price?
• What constraints and challenges do you have?
• What are your strategic niches, and how much of your business fits inside and outside of those niches?
• Are you paying your suppliers within terms?  If not, why not?
• What are your long-term contracts with suppliers?
• What are your energy costs and why?
• What are your labor contracts, and when do they expire?  What is the history of strikes, if any?
• What is your current labor vacancy rate?  What is your turnover rate?
• Who are the other major employers in the area?
• What is your drug testing and substance abuse policy?
• Who are your top customers?  Among them, where do you rank in importance to them?  Which customers do you serve as their leading or primary supplier in your category?
• What portion of your volume is direct to OEM, under contract, spot, or distributed?
• What is the quality of your receivables (i.e., pays within terms, length of terms)?
• Who are your lost customers, if any, and why?
• What are your long-term contracts with customers?
• How is price determined in your industry?
• What leverage do you have over price in your industry?
• Can you show me your profitability by product?  By customer?  Do you have loss leaders or unprofitable areas, and if so, why?
• What is your history of introducing new products, including both successes and failures?
• What markets, customers, or products have you exited and why?
• What primary market research do you do?
• What is your rate of customer satisfaction, and how do you know?
• What are your competitive challenges?  From direct competitors, from substitute materials, from imports?
• What are the demand trends in your industry?
• What intellectual property do you own?  (Patents, trademarks, copyrights)?
• What is your market share?  How is it trending?
• What visibility do you have into demand and why?
• What are your terms (covenants, etc.) with your lenders?
• Are you borrowing against your line of credit and if so, why?
• Are you credit-insurable?
• Environmental Due Diligence questions.... (Compliance, violations, site inspection)
• What environmental permits do you have, and what are their limits?  What permits have been denied?
• What is your safety record (OSHA recordables, LTAs, compare to industry)
• What portion of your inventory is non-performing or slow moving?
• Who are your neighbors, and what is your relationship with them?
• Equipment questions...What is the age and condition of your equipment?  What is the age of your technology?
• What has been your maintenance and repair spending for the last five years?
• What are your equipment delay rates?
• Where are your demonstrated bottlenecks, why, and what are your strategies for managing these bottlenecks?
• Which equipment needs to be replaced, and why?
• Which pieces of equipment need periodic major rebuilds, and what is your rebuild history?
• Do you have up to date and complete drawings and blueprints for your property, your buildings and your equipment?
• Do you have complete tooling?  If not, what is needed?  How much of your tooling is obsolete, if any?
• What are your long lead time items for tooling, equipment replacements and spare parts?
• Do you have a list of critical spares?  How do you manage your critical spares?
• Do you have access to rail and water transportation?  If rail, do you have a siding or spur and if so with whom?