he Boston-based consultancy IHS Markit predicts the economic recovery that began when vaccines were rolled out in earnest won’t be halted by the latest variant, omicron. However, the growth seen across the planet during 2021 won’t likely be matched in 2022.

At the top of its list of predictions for the year, IHS Markit analysts believe that new waves of COVID-19 will not derail the recovery. “The subsequent spread in new cases and the emergence of the omicron variant signal a transition from pandemic to endemic,” Elisabeth Waelbroeck Rocha, chief international economist, said in a Dec. 20 report.

Normalization Ahead?

HRC prices fell globally in Q4 ’21; U.S. declines likely to persist during Q1 ’22

o matter what the pressures are today, one must always plan for the future. Pressures can be either good or bad; sometimes an industry faces both types at once. In the new year, toll processing executives are bullish on their demand prospects while they have become more innovative in recruiting and retaining workers, overcoming supply chain bottlenecks and—above all—communicating with customers in great detail.

“Current demand is exceptionally strong,” says Seth Young, president of Amerinox Processing, Camden, New Jersey. “We do not anticipate a slowdown during the first quarter. We think strength will continue beyond Q1. It’s the perfect storm: not enough material, disruptions in the supply chain. We don’t think most of that will sort out for several more months.

ervice centers and their clients adopted a variety of methods to manage through an unpredictable cycle over the past couple years. A pandemic struck the global economy in March 2020, shutting down or slowing production of parts, components and systems for consumer goods, idling active building sites and other activities that require metals. Although this shutdown period was brief in many parts of the world, it disrupted the supply chain far more dramatically than one might have expected, in part because people were wary of returning to work during COVID, even as pent-up demand—for everything—exploded.

“Fortunately, we have had a great supply base that took care of us and got us through bottlenecks of supply,” says Eric Letz, CEO of Willbanks Metals, Fort Worth, Texas.

ounded in Pittsburgh in 1883, PPG continually works to grow and develop its industrial coatings business. Now more than ever, the coatings giant works in close collaboration with the community of architects and developers to ensure their structures are distinctive in appearance and protected with strong, durable and colorfast coatings. In 2008, PPG purchased SigmaKalon Group, which manufactured architectural paint, protective and marine coatings, and industrial coatings. In 2013, also it acquired the architectural coatings business of AkzoNobel.

Looking to 2022 and beyond, PPG’s worldwide team of chemists, researchers, specifiers and knowledgeable sales associates is taking the visions of architects and translating them in terms of color schemes, textures and reflectivity.

utting complex geometries and large dimensions are California fabricator Metal Cutting Service’s specialties. The company is a partner and supplier for many well-known manufacturers in the aerospace, defense, aluminum and steel distribution, and semiconductor industries. In any given day, MCS can see a mix of plastics, acrylic materials, steel and temperature-resistant special metals in plate, bar, forgings and extrusions up to 50 inches thick and 700 inches long.

usinesses like Apple, Google, Harley-Davidson and Disney have one thing in common: they all started out in a garage. H&H Metals is a suitable addition to the list. James and Kathy Huff founded the company in the early 1980s, using their house as its first headquarters. H&H is known for assemblies that embellish glazing systems, roofs, trade show booths and movie sets alike.

Although Thornton, Colorado-based H&H hasn’t become a household name yet, it’s nevertheless an expert with construction projects. It’s hard to find a job in the Denver area completed during the last 40 years in which H&H wasn’t involved.

iber laser technology isn’t just for thin-gauge material anymore. The technology has grown and evolved to be useful in a diverse range of industries—even replacing conventional lasers or non-laser technologies. Combined with intuitive, easy-to-use, high-speed CNC control units that help operators make short work of any task, fiber lasers are a good choice for companies that want to achieve cost-effective, high-accuracy processing.