Metal Buyers’ Salaries: How They Stack Up?

By Jim Stavis

     As we enter the new year everyone has a tendency to assess their financial position to determine if they are where they want to be. Now before you use this newsletter article to convince your boss that you should be compensated more or for those in management to use it against employees, this is an article for reference purposes ONLY.
     Each year Purchasing magazine conducts a salary survey with its readers and it measures metal sourcing for purchasing managers as one of its salary categories. Buying professionals who purchase metals earn an average of $64,800 annually which is $5,300 less than the average salaries of all purchasing agents. Buyers of transportation ($88,900), services ($85,300) and information technology ($81,400) all make more than metal buyers.
     A year ago, the average salary for metal buyers was $61,000, about $6,300 less than their counterparts who purchased all other goods and services. Looking at salaries of purchasing professionals, buyers earn an average salary of $43,700, purchasing managers earn $62,700 and V.P.’s earn $128,000.
     Metals is the commodity best represented in Purchasing’s $100,000 club. 20% of metal buyers earn more than $100,000 annually. On average male buyers earn $70,100 and female buyers earn $51,700. The results of this study show professional responsibilities serve as a benchmark for compensation. As dollar volume and supervisory duties increase, so does income. 66% of those who responded had responsibility for purchasing more than $25 million. Purchasing pros employed by companies with more than $125 million in annual sales report better than average compensation.. Also education and experience are factors in compensation levels. 52% of buyers have a college education and 9% hold a graduate degree. 72% of purchasing pros in the metal industry are male and the average age is 46 years old with 16 years of experience.
     We have provided quite an array of statistics to chew on and again we want to stress that these are for reference purposes only. As an employer ourselves we are sensitive to compensation issues. It also must be noted that the above statistics do not include such things as bonuses, stock options and perks that employees might receive. Nearly 50% of buyers who responded to the survey were on some kind of bonus program in addition to their salary.      The bottom line is that employees must feel motivated and invested in their jobs so that they are consistent with their company’s goals. Happy employees are motivated for success.

A New Adventure for the New Year

By Jim Stavis

     As many of our customers already know, along with distribution, Paragon Steel has shifted more and more into the fabricated services side of the business. Also metal processing which includes forming, saw-cutting, punching amongst other things has become a growing part of our business. We are proud to announce the formation of Paragon Metal Processing to bid exclusively on your processing needs. Located in Commerce, we have a shop filled with equipment to augment our fabrication facility located in Placentia. Our new telephone number for Paragon Metal Processing is (310) 830-5189 and fax number is (310) 830-5421. We look forward to bidding your next processing requirement.

The Results Are In

By Jim Stavis

     2004 for the steel industry could be best compared to the latest amusement park ride at Disneyland, the Tower of Terror. Like a roller coaster the markets have risen and fallen at breakneck speeds. For users of steel, it has been difficult to keep up with each twist and turn. Through the end of 2004, U.S. steel shipments were up 13.7%. Carbon steel as a group rose 6.7% with only structural products being less than a year ago. Structurals had declined by 11.2% versus 2003 while flat rolled shipments rose 5.9%, plate rose 12.2% and pipe and tubing rose 6.0%. Shipments of stainless steel rose 13.2% in 2004 while alloy shipments rose 29.1%. Shipments of all aluminum products increased in 2004.
     So what does this data tell us of what to expect in 2005? It is hard to say for sure, but if the economy continues to plug along as it is, then steel shipments will continue to rise. The mills are bullish about 2005 as they continue to keep their prices high. Yet on the distributor level there is still great pressure to keep prices down. Distributors have trimmed their inventory levels in anticipation of lower prices from the mills, but thus far, it really has not come to pass.