SOME LIKE IT HOT

Friedman Industries, Inc. recently opened its newest steel coil processing plant in Decatur, AL. The facility is designed to convert hot-rolled coils received from the nearby Nucor Steel Company mill into hot-rolled sheet and plate, relieved of distortions commonly associated with coiled steel, through the use of temper-passing and leveling equipment.

Friedman was incorporated in Texas in 1965 and has been a publicly traded company since 1972 (trading symbol FRD). The company is an outgrowth of a steel business started in 1939 in Eldorado, AR by Mendel Friedman, patriarch of the Friedman family.

This new facility is strategically located on 47.3 acres adjacent to the Nucor mill, a business model of locating next to a major steel mill that translates into reliable supply, higher productivity and lower production costs. With 48,000 sq ft of plant and warehouse, and another 2,000 sq ft of offices, this new operation serves a wide range of customers within 500 miles of Decatur.

Temper-passing and leveling result in significantly flatter and more consistent steels, with the improvements becoming even more pronounced in higher-strength alloys. The cost- and time-saving benefits of these temper-passing and leveling capabilities are increasingly important in a world where higher-strength materials and tighter tolerances are best handled using today's more precise, more expensive plasma and laser cutting CNC equipment.

By eliminating such common coiled-steel problems as coil set, center buckle, crossbow, wavy edge, and even twisted strip, tempered products enable end users obtain higher yields and expedited production schedules with less risk of damaging sensitive equipment. As manufacturers continue to upgrade from older hydraulic or mechanical rigs to today's precision production systems, the high cost of damage to machinery due to slightly inconsistent raw material, and the lost production that results, make temper-passed and leveled steel products an increasingly attractive value.

Another sister facility is being located within 300 miles of the new Decatur plant. This relatively short distance allows each location to play backup to the other. Overall coil processing operations for Friedman are currently located in Hickman, AR and Decatur. Its Texas Tubular Products Division (Lone Star, TX) manufactures, processes and distributes pipe and tubular products. The company also purchases and markets sub-standard hot-rolled coil through its XSCP Division and offers processing services on customer owned material on an "as quoted" basis.

An in-house sales force markets the coil, plate and sheet products and processing services primarily in the midwestern, southwestern and southeastern sections of the U.S. These products and services are sold principally to steel distributors and to customers fabricating steel products such as storage tanks, steel buildings, farm machinery and equipment, construction equipment, transportation equipment, conveyors and other similar products. Pipe and tubular products are also sold nationally by an in-house sales force.

Friedman Industries, 4001 Homestead Road, Houston, TX 77028, 713-672-9433, www.friedmanindustries.com