Material Market Updates During TEDCO’s Anniversary Month!
Comments Off on Material Market Updates During TEDCO’s Anniversary Month!Our company is celebrating 38 years in business this month, and we could not be any more appreciative of those who helped get us here. As we reflect on our growth since 1987, we are proud of our unwavering commitment to precision quality, competitive pricing, and transparent communication between vendors and customers alike. We will also discuss material market updates during TEDCO’s Anniversary month!
Building a family business from the ground up is not an easy task, but through the years, it has remained under family ownership and operation. Despite the loss of our founder, Thomas E. Davis, twenty years ago, his children have kept the legacy alive, thinking of him along the way when things have gotten tough.
Thomas’s son, Michael, is the current owner of Tedco and has written a few short articles in remembrance of this company’s beginnings with his father, and of the lessons learned along the way.
He spoke of small beginnings, with just a press brake in Manteca, a fab shop in Oakland, and machining equipment in his parents’ garage. There, they would quote jobs, outsource most work, and deliver and install the finished products. When outsourcing wasn’t cutting it anymore, they opened a shop just around the corner from Tedco’s current location in 1989.
Under his father’s direction, Michael and his siblings learned for themselves how to manage business finances, CNC program, advanced welding techniques, and how to run various machines necessary to build upon the company year after year.
To learn more about Tedco’s beginnings, visit us on LinkedIn to view published articles or check out our blogs on our website, where we discuss more about our company journey and capabilities.
October 2025 Material Market Updates During TEDCO’s
Now our business has made it to the year 2025, one full on ups and downs in regards to the metal market and imposed tariffs due to the current administration. We think it is important to provide our customers with transparent information, and elaborate on how the current material market trends affect pricing within our industry.
We turn to Ryerson’s monthly market reports for insight to help navigate the ever-changing market and optimize our purchasing strategies. The introduction of new spot indexes and increased tariffs is expected to influence future pricing, but the overall impact remains under observation. The latest updates on various materials include:
Aluminum: Midwest premiums have climbed from around $0.20/lb early this year to around $0.77/lb this October, creating a gap between U.S. delivered costs and global ingot pricing. Buyers who believed imports would offer relief are discouraged to find out that when freight and tariffs are factored in, it does not offer much. With U.S. limited smelting facilities, the market is heavily dependent on Canadian supply. Tariffs are disrupting the flow and putting added pressure on U.S. Midwest premiums, driving delivered costs.
Carbon Steel: Despite broader uncertainties in metal, steel demand remains solid. The demand for steel sheet imports has come down significantly due to tariffs reducing competitiveness for foreign steel. Buyers are increasingly sourcing from U.S. mills despite having to pay premium rates compared to offshore. Steel pricing has appeared stable after recent declines; market watchers believe it is in the process of bottoming out. Finally, carbon steel plate has seen an increase of $60/t.
Stainless: Stainless imports have remained surprisingly resilient, even after tariffs, particularly from regions where foreign suppliers can still compete on cost. Domestic mills like North American Stainless have raised prices modestly, but not enough to close the import gap entirely. Short term, stability could persist for stainless. However, in the longer term, tightening supply and potential mine closures could nudge stainless surcharges higher into 2026.
Red Metals: Nickel is holding steady near $7 per pound, and surcharges have stayed largely unchanged in 2025, which could be a welcome sign for buyers managing long-term projects and fixed-price contracts. But beneath that stability lies a structural challenge. At current prices, as much as 40–50% of global nickel miners are unprofitable, forcing some to consider scaling back operations.
To Sum It Up
A mix of policy spells and price plateaus defines this month’s landscape, where tariffs have once again taken the stage. The latest duty increase on steel and aluminum has conjured fresh volatility—most notably in aluminum.
Despite headwinds from soft demand and shifting policy, the U.S. steel market continues to hold its ground. After a steady slide, prices are stabilizing as trade decisions begin to reshape the flow of steel across global borders.
Many manufacturers remain on the sidelines, still deciding how to balance reshoring, supplier diversification, and cost pressures.
Despite this slow stretch, some end markets are holding firm. Aerospace, industrial machinery, and transportation equipment are performing relatively well, and buyers in those sectors are finding supply conditions stable, if not yet improving.
For instance, one of the medical equipment parts we produce in bulk quantities is an ultrasonic cleaning baskets. This component removes debris, oils and aid in the lifespan of other smaller metal equipment used in medical procedures and operations. We have made thousands of baskets in various sizes, and they are still available for purchase on our customer’s site.
photographed before the finishing process. Sometimes, medical equipment representatives come to us for prototyping medical components to see if they will make operations run more efficiently, but not all make it to market.
